Israeli forces kill Palestinian near Nablus

Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

"A Palestinian was killed after the (Israeli) occupation forces opened fire on him," the ministry said on Monday night, without elaborating on the details.

The statement came shortly after the Israeli army said its soldiers had "neutralised" an alleged knife-wielding assailant in the same area.

According to an AFP news agency report, the Israeli army said the first results of an investigation showed the assailant had arrived in a car from Nablus and tried to stab a soldier who was manning a checkpoint.

"Another soldier responded by firing at the terrorist and neutralising him," it said in a statement, adding that no soldiers were injured in the attack.

In 2018, Israeli security forces killed a total of 290 Palestinians, including 55 minors, in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem reported.

Of that total, 254 were killed in Gaza while the other deaths took place in the West Bank.

Eleven of those in the West Bank “were killed while attacking, attempting to attack, or allegedly attempting to attack Israeli security forces or civilians – by ramming cars into them, stabbing, use of other cold arms or shooting”, the group said.

B’Tselem said that a majority of those killed were the result of Israel’s “reckless open-fire policy” in which Israeli forces implemented a “shooting to kill” policy that Israel defines as “attacks”.

The Palestinians seek statehood in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians have limited self-rule in the West Bank, most of which is controlled by Israel.