AL AQABA: Israeli forces on Friday killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, as a surge of deadly violence in the occupied territory shows no signs of abating.

The ministry said Abdul Rahim Fayez Ghannam, 36, was “shot by live occupation (Israeli) fire in the head” in the village of Al-Aqaba in the northern West Bank.

An AFP photographer saw black smoke billowing from a building during the military raid.

The Israeli army said in a statement a firefight broke out between militants and soldiers and “a hit was identified on one of the gunmen”. Troops also “used shoulder-fired missiles and grenades” in the violence, and subsequently found improvised explosive devices and other weapons in the building, the statement said.

After Israeli forces withdrew, Palestinian residents inspected bullet marks and a gaping hole left in the wall of a house.

Mourners gathered for the funeral of Ghannam, whose head was wrapped in a keffiyeh while his body was shrouded in a Palestinian flag.

The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank and Israel this year is the highest since 2005, according to the United Nations’ humanitarian agency OCHA.

The soaring violence has also involved a rise in Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2023