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Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian man in Bethlehem after alleged stabbing

According to eyewitnesses, Tanouh was unarmed as Israeli soldiers shot and killed him from 10 meters away
A Palestinian man gestures at the scene where Tanouh was shot dead by Israeli troops in the West Bank village of Tuqu near Bethlehem 20 July (Reuters)
By MEE staff
Published date: 20 July 2017 16:33 BST | Last update: 7 years 4 months ago

Israeli soldiers shot and killed on Thursday a Palestinian man after he reportedly attempted to stab them in Tuqu, east of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

Mohmmad Hussein Tanouh, 26, was shot four times before an army vehicle ran over him, near al-Khansa school in the town, reported Palestinian media.

An Israeli army spokesperson said Tanouh had attempted to stab soldiers before they "responded to the immediate threat, and killed the man".

But according to eyewitness Omar al-Amori, Tanouh was on his way to Hebron when he noticed that a group of Israeli soldiers were harassing Palestinian passers-by.
 
"As he walked towards the soldiers, unarmed, the soldiers shot him 15 times in the chest and head from ten meters away," Amori told MEE.
 
"After that they [the Israeli soldiers ran over him with a an army vehicle, crushing his head."

The incident sparked angry protests from local residents who were prevented from reaching Tanouh's body, reported Maan news.

Palestinian protesters run during clashes with Israeli troops in the West Bank village of Tuqu near Bethlehem 20 July (Reuters)

According to Amori, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters as they gathered near the scene of the incident. 
 
Clashes erupting between the locals and the army left 15 people injured, including a Palestinian police man who was shot in the head by rubber bullet, said Amori. 
 
"This bring the number of people killed in our village by Israeli soldiers this year to three," Amori told MEE.

The attack comes amid increasing unrest in Jerusalem with the spiritual leader of al-Aqsa Mosque warning on Thursday of an "explosion" over the control of access to the city's holiest site, the Noble Sanctuary.

Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, who was shot by an Israeli rubber bullet in the latest clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters, said the continued lockdown of the site by Israeli police would lead to more violence.

His comments come ahead of a planned Palestinian "day of rage" in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, called for by the Fatah movement, which is incensed at the Israeli response to an attack near the site last Friday that left three Palestinian gunmen and two Israeli police dead.

Palestinian protesters run during clashes with Israeli troops in the West Bank village of Tuqu near Bethlehem 20 July (Reuters)

A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 272 Palestinians, 41 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP tally.

Israeli authorities say most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks.

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