Israeli forces shoot Palestinian in West Bank city of Jericho

Israeli forces shoot Palestinian in West Bank city of Jericho
Israeli forces shot a Palestinian man during a raid on a refugee camp near the West Bank city of Jericho on Wednesday.
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More than 60 Palestinians have been killed in attacks by Israeli forces [source: Getty]

Israeli forces on Wednesday killed a Palestinian man during a raid on the city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank the Palestinian health ministry said.

Israeli forces have besieged Jericho since early this week, following the fatal shooting of an Israeli-American motorist.

The Israeli army said soldiers fired at two people who tried to flee after they entered the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp near Jericho to arrest suspects in the Monday shooting attack in the same area.

Mahmoud Jamal Hassan Hamdan, 22, died from "serious wounds inflicted by bullets of the occupation  during the raid, a statement from the Palestinian health ministry said.

Hamdan died before arriving at Jerusalem's Hadassa hospital, a spokesperson there said.

Israeli forces in Aqabat Jabr claimed "arrested four suspects including the terrorist responsible for the attack" that killed the Israeli-American motorist.

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Jihad Abu al-Assad, governor of Jericho, told AFP Hamdan had sustained serious injuries.

Israel has killed at least 64 Palestinians since the beginning of the year in deadly raids on West Bank towns and cities.

It has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and built hundreds of illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory.

Late Sunday, the Palestinian town of Huwara came under attack by Israeli settlers, hours after two Israeli settlers - brothers Yagel Yaniv, 20, and Hallel Yaniv, 22 - were shot dead.

Dozens of Israeli settlers set homes and cars ablaze and hurled stones in Huwara overnight. 

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant deplored an "intolerable" situation, saying: "We cannot allow a situation in which citizens take the law into their (own) hands."

Police have arrested seven suspects in connection with the attack.

The Israeli settler attack on Huwara came just days after a massacre by the Israeli army in the city of Nablus which killed 11 people and injured dozens of others. 

On Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian officials pledged in a joint statement to "prevent further violence" and "commit to de-escalation" following talks in the Jordanian city of Aqaba. However, many Palestinians condemned the Palestinian Authority participation in these talks.