Israeli soldiers shoot at Palestine near Bethlehem – Henry’s Club

JERUSALEM: Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man near the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said early Monday, the latest in a growing wave of violence that has erupted during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
The Israeli military said it opened fire on a man who threw a firebomb at an Israeli vehicle driving on a West Bank highway late Sunday. The shooting brought the number of Palestinians killed in the past 24 hours to three, including an unarmed woman who was shot at a military post near Bethlehem.
Ramadan converges this year with major Jewish and Christian holidays. Protests and conflict in Jerusalem during Ramadan last year turned into an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza militants.
Israel has stepped up its military activity in the West Bank after Palestinian attackers killed 14 Israelis in recent weeks in four deadly attacks inside Israel. At the same time, it has taken several steps to defuse the situation, including allowing thousands of Palestinians from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip to work inside Israel.
Palestinian health officials identified the man killed in the latest shooting late Sunday as 21-year-old Muhammad Ali Ahmed Ghonim.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian women. The Israeli military said a policeman was stabbed and wounded in the city of Hebron. The other was an unarmed woman, who said she ignored warning shots and asked to stop near a checkpoint near Bethlehem.
Palestinian attackers frequently attack outposts in the West Bank. But Palestinians and human rights groups say the Israeli military often uses excessive force and in some cases has injured or killed people who were not involved in the violence.
The EU diplomatic mission in the Palestinian territories accused Israel of using “unacceptably excessive force” to fatally shoot an unarmed woman. It wrote on Twitter, “This incident should be investigated at the earliest and the guilty should be brought to justice.”
In a separate incident on Monday, the military said two Israeli civilians arrived at a West Bank checkpoint near the city of Nablus with gunshot wounds. Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that the two attempted to visit Joseph’s grave, which had been vandalized the day before, and attacked by unknown assailants.
The day before, a group of Palestinians set the tomb on fire before Palestinian security forces could disperse them. The temple, located on the outskirts of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, is a frequent flashpoint site. Some Jews believe that it is the tomb of biblical Joseph, while Muslims believe that it is the tomb of a sheikh.
In coordination with the Palestinian security forces, the army moves Jewish worshipers to the site several times a year.