Israeli settler kills Palestinian in West Bank

AL MUGHAYYIR: An Israeli setler shot dead a Palestinian man who the military said tried to carry out an atack in a setlement in the occupied West Bank on Friday.

The incident came as several European countries condemned Israeli demolitions and setler violence in the West Bank, which flared again as Palestinian farmers said Jewish setlers fired at them while they were working on their agricultural land.

The Palestinian health ministry said it was informed by the unit that coordinates civilian affairs with Israel that 28-year-old Alaa Qaysiyeh was shot dead “by the occupation” south of Hebron.

Israeli media said the incident occurred as people in the setlement of Teneh Omarim were gathering for prayers for the Jewish Shavuot festival.

A video showed a man slipping underneath a closed metal gate. In another video, soldiers were seen sealing a synagogue with red tape.

Qaysiyeh’ssister-in-law,nana,toldreportersthat the youngest of nine siblings worked intermitently, largely kept to himself and was not a member of any armed groups. She said his brother Murad, her husband, was released six months ago ater 17 years in an Israeli prison on accusations of firing at a setlement and wounding three people.

No armed groups claimed Qaysiyeh as a member.

Israeli-palestinian violence has surged for more than a year, with frequent Israeli military raids and setler violence in the West Bank amid a spate of atacks on Israelis.

Since January, more than 140 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners have been killed.

Israel occupied the West Bank, which Palestinians want as the core of an independent state, in the 1967 Middle East war. Us-sponsored statehood talks have been frozen since 2014, while Israel has maintained military rule over millions of Palestinians and continued to expand Jewish setlements.

Later on Friday, Bashar Al Qaryuti, a field researcher with the St. Yves rights group, said Jewish setlers harassed Palestinian farmers in three different areas of the West Bank, with the backing of Israeli soldiers.