West Bank: Two Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces
Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in two separate raids in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The ministry said in a statement that Samer Khaled, 25, from al-Ain camp in Nablus, suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the neck during an Israeli raid on the Balata refugee camp.
Meanwhile, Yazan Afana, 26, from the Qalandia camp, died after being shot in the heart in the town of al-Bireh near Ramallah.
Security sources told the Palestinian news agency Wafa that a sizeable force of Israeli soldiers had stormed the Balata refugee camp in Nablus to conduct arrests, sparking violent confrontations.
Khaled was rushed to a hospital, but succumbed to his wounds shortly afterwards, Wafa said.
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Local sources in al-Bireh told the news agency that Israeli soldiers had opened fire on local youths attempting to block their passage, killing Afana.
Wafa reported that Afana was standing on a rooftop in the Sath Marhaba area, when Israeli forces shot him during raids on Palestinian homes.
The Israeli military has been conducting near-daily raids in the West Bank since the start of the year in which several Palestinians have been killed.
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