Israeli forces shoot, kill Palestinian man in West Bank

Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, the latest death in a months-long spiral of violence.

The circumstances behind the death were not immediately clear. Israeli media reported the man was carrying a knife and attempted to stab the soldiers who were standing guard near a Jewish settlement.

However, witnesses said the man was shot after Israeli troops forced him out of his car, according to the Palestinian WAFA news agency.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man as Ahmad Kahla, 45. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Kahla's son was also injured by the Israeli fire and detained.

Tensions have been surging for months in the occupied territory, where the Israeli military has been staging nightly raids since last spring. 

Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 2022, according to figures by the Israeli rights group B'Tselem, making it the deadliest year since 2004. Since the start of this year, 13 Palestinians have been killed, according to a tally by The Associated Press.

Israel claims that most of the dead were militants, but Palestinian stone-throwers, youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations also have been killed.

The West Bank has been occupied by Israel in violation of international law since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. A peace process launched in the 1990s has stalled in the face of a continued Israeli refusal to withdraw from the territory and cease settlement activity.

Around 500,000 illegal Israeli settlers in about 130 settlements across the West Bank, marking a key obstacle to peace efforts.