Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank on Sunday following a struggle at a military checkpoint, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, the latest death in a monthslong spiral of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. The circumstances of the shooting were in dispute. The Israeli army claimed the man tried to grab a soldier's weapon, while witnesses and relatives said he was shot while trying to defend himself during an inspection that turned violent. Read more: Thousands of Israelis rally against Netanyahu government The Israeli military said soldiers spotted what they deemed a suspicious vehicle that refused to stop for a “routine inspection” near the West Bank town of Silwad. A clash broke out when the soldiers attempted to detain one of the people in the vehicle, and soldiers opened fire when a passenger tried to grab a soldier's weapon. Maher Shafiq, a Palestinian witness, said the violence erupted after motorists began honking their horns due to lengthy delays in allowing cars to pass through the checkpoint. He said soldiers fired a stun grenade that hit the man's car, prompting him to yell at them. He said soldiers began beating the man and dragged him out of the car. “He tried to defend himself, so one of the soldiers shot him in cold blood,” Shafiq said. A video circulating on social media showed what appeared to be an altercation, with a man struggling and jostling with a soldier, and the sounds of two gunshots before he falls to the ground. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man killed as Ahmad Kahla, 45. Rights groups accuse Israel of using excessive force against Palestinians. The military says it contends with complex, life-threatening situations. Tensions have been surging for months in the occupied territory, where the Israeli military has been staging nightly arrest raids since last spring. The raids were prompted by a wave of Palestinian attacks against Israelis that killed 19 people, while another 10 Israelis were killed in a second string of attacks later last year. Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 2022, according to figures by the Israeli rights group B'Tselem, making it the deadliest year since 2004. Since the start of this year, 13 Palestinians have been killed, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Read more: Palestinian man succumbs to wounds in Israeli West Bank raid Israel says most of the dead were militants. But Palestinian stone-throwers, youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations also have been killed. Israel says the raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks. The Palestinians see them as further entrenchment of Israel's open-ended, 55-year occupation of lands they seek for their future independent state. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, territories the Palestinians want for their hoped-for state. Israel has since settled 500,000 people in about 130 settlements across the West Bank, which the Palestinians and much of the international community view as an obstacle to peace.

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian in the West Bank on Thursday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, as troops elsewhere demolished the home of a Palestinian who gunned down Israelis in an attack earlier this year. The Ministry identified the man as Ayman Mheisen, 29. The Israeli military said forces operating in the Dheisheh refugee camp in the West Bank city of Bethlehem were pelted with rocks and explosive devices, but didn't elaborate on the kind of explosives. The troops responded with live fire, according to the military. Also read:Israeli nationalists chant racist slogans in Jerusalem march Meanwhile, a blast from the home demolition in the West Bank village of Yaabed lit up the night sky early Thursday. Video released by the Israeli military showed soldiers preparing the house for demolition and an explosion ripping through the three-floor building. The military said forces exchanged fire with Palestinian gunmen at the scene. The Palestinian whose home was demolished methodically gunned down five people in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak in March. Israel uses home demolitions as a deterrent to prevent further attacks. Critics see the tactic as a form of collective punishment. On Wednesday, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a woman who was said to have been carrying a knife. Also read:Israel busts Hamas group for terrorist attack schemes The events come during a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, where a spate of Palestinian attacks set off near-daily arrest raids by Israel in the West Bank. The tensions were further fueled by clashes at a key Jerusalem mosque and the killing of a well-known Palestinian-American journalist. The Palestinians and witness say she was killed by Israeli fire, while Israel says it’s not clear if soldiers or Palestinian gunmen fired the deadly bullet. At least 19 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks in recent months. At least 35 Palestinians have been killed by Israel. Some were gunmen killed in fighting with Israel, while others were shot while allegedly throwing stones or firebombs at Israeli troops in the West Bank. But an unarmed woman and at least two people who appear to have been bystanders were also among those killed.

A Palestinian gunman who is the brother of a prominent Palestinian militant died Sunday after being critically wounded in clashes with Israeli forces, according to the Israeli hospital where he was being treated. Daoud Zubeidi was wounded in clashes with the Israeli military in the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday. Zubeidi is the brother of Zakaria Zubeidi, a jailed Palestinian militant who briefly became one of Israel’s most wanted fugitives after tunneling out of a high-security prison last year. He was eventually caught and returned to prison. Also read: Israeli police beat pallbearers at journalist's funeral Police said a 47-year-old member of a special Israeli commando unit was killed in those clashes. Daoud Zubeidi was taken to Israel's Rambam hospital where he was sedated and on a respirator and where his death was pronounced Sunday. Israel has been carrying out raids in Jenin and other parts of the West Bank for weeks following a spate of Palestinian attacks against Israelis that have killed nearly 20 people. More than 30 Palestinians have been killed, most of them involved in attacks or clashes with the military. An unarmed woman and two apparent bystanders were also among those killed and rights groups say Israel often uses excessive force. It was during the raids in Jenin on Wednesday that well-known Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed after being shot in the head. The Palestinians, including fellow journalists who were with her, say she was killed by Israeli gunfire. The Israeli military says there was an exchange of fire with Palestinian gunmen at the time, and it's unclear who fired the fatal bullet. Abu Akleh was laid to rest Friday in Jerusalem in a mass funeral in which Israeli police pushed and beat mourners and pallbearers. Israeli police said they would conduct an investigation into the incident. Also read: Israeli police beat mourners at journalist’s funeral Abu Akleh's death and the shocking scenes from her funeral drew condemnations from around the globe and calls for an investigation into her killing. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who has said there was a “considerable chance” that Abu Akleh was killed by Palestinian gunmen, said Sunday he stood behind the soldiers operating in Jenin. “The state of Israel does not place any limits on the struggle against terrorism,” he told a meeting of his Cabinet. “We will continue in all the necessary actions to grant security to Israeli citizens.”

Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinians and wounded a third after the men opened fire on a base in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the latest in a series of violent confrontations amid soaring tensions in Jerusalem. Dozens of Palestinians in an east Jerusalem neighborhood are at risk of being evicted following a long legal battle with Israeli settlers, and Palestinian protesters have clashed with Israeli police in the city on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The tensions have radiated across the region, with neighboring Jordan warning Israel against further “provocative” steps, and Iran seizing on the sensitivities around Jerusalem and encouraging the violence. Israeli police said three attackers fired on the base near the northern West Bank town of Jenin. The Border Police and an Israeli soldier opened fire in response, killing two of the men and wounding a third, who was evacuated to a hospital.ADVERTISEMENT Some 70,000 worshippers attended the final Friday prayers of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa, the Islamic endowment that oversees the site said. Thousands protested afterwards, waving the green flags of the Islamic militant group Hamas and chanting pro-Hamas slogans before dispersing peacefully. Israelis and Palestinians are bracing more more violence in the coming days. Sunday night is “Laylat al-Qadr” or the “Night of Destiny,” the most sacred in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Worshippers will gather for intense nighttime prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, a flashpoint holy site sacred to Muslims and to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. Sunday night is also the start of Jerusalem Day, a national holiday in which Israel celebrates its annexation of east Jerusalem and religious nationalists hold parades and other celebrations in the city. On Monday, an Israeli court is expected to issue a verdict on the evictions. Israel’s archenemy Iran was meanwhile marking its own Quds (Jerusalem) Day on Friday. The national holiday typically features anti-Israel protests and fiery speeches by Iranian leaders predicting Israel’s demise. “The downward and declining movement of the Zionist regime has begun and will not stop,” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised address. He called for continuing armed “resistance” in the Palestinian territories and urged Muslim nations support it. This year, Ramadan has coincided with an uptick in Israeli-Palestinian violence focused on Jerusalem, where Palestinian protesters have repeatedly clashed with Israeli police over restrictions on outdoor gatherings at the Damascus Gate leading into the Old City. On Thursday, Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian suspected of carrying out a drive-by shooting earlier this week in the West Bank that killed an Israeli and wounded two others. On Wednesday, Israeli troops shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian during a confrontation near the West Bank city of Nablus. The military said several Palestinians had thrown firebombs toward soldiers. In recent days, protesters have scuffled with police and settlers over the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem. Several Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah have been embroiled in a long-running legal battle with Israeli settler groups trying to acquire property in the neighborhood north of the Old City. Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza — territories the Palestinians want for their future state — in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally and views the entire city as its capital. The Palestinians view east Jerusalem — which includes major holy sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims — as their capital, and its fate is one of the most sensitive issues in the conflict. Neighboring Jordan, which made peace with Israel in 1994 and is the custodian of Al-Aqsa, weighed in on Friday, saying “Israel’s continuation of its illegal practices and provocative steps” in the city is a “dangerous game.” “Building and expanding settlements, confiscating lands, demolishing homes and deporting Palestinians from their homes are illegal practices that perpetuate the occupation and undermine the chances of achieving a just and comprehensive peace, which is a regional and international necessity,” Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi tweeted. The Islamic militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, has egged on the violence, and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fired rockets in support of the protesters. Earlier this week, the shadowy commander of Hamas’ armed wing, Mohammed Deif, released his first public statement in seven years, in which he warned Israel it would pay a “heavy price” if it evicts Palestinians from their homes.

A spike in Israeli-Palestinian violence on Thursday left at least three Palestinians killed and a dozen Israeli troops wounded in a rash of attacks and clashes a week after the Trump administration released its long-anticipated Mideast plan.