A Palestinian shot dead in the occupied West Bank after bringing up a knifeaccording to Israeli forces, became the 100th victim since the beginning of the year in the long-running Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Friday.
The Palestinian, identified as Yazan Omar Jamil Jasib, 23, died “after being fired upon by the occupation forces at the northern entrance to the city of Al Bireh,” near Ramallah, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement. statement, according to the AFP news agency.
He The Israeli army declared for its part in a statement that “a suspect” who had been asked to identify himself “took out a knife and approached the (Israeli) forces, who responded by shooting.”
The statement adds that “the attacker was neutralized” and that no soldiers were injured in the incident, which occurred in a town near Al Bireh, in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 by Israel.
Figures for 2023
Since the beginning of the year, the conflict has claimed the lives of 100 people: 86 Palestinians (including members of armed groups and civilians, including minors), as well as 13 Israelis (twelve civilians, including three minors, and one police officer). already a Ukrainian citizen.
The latest wave of violence comes after Benjamin Netanyahu returned to the post of Israeli prime minister and head a government that observers say is the most right-wing in the country’s history.
More than 700,000 illegal Israeli settlers now live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Netanyahu’s new coalition, which took office in late December, is dominated by hardliners and ultranationalists with close ties to the squatter movement.