Israeli forces kill young Palestinian in Nablus as 2023 death toll nears 50

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian and wounded several others on Monday during an army raid in the occupied West Bank, medics said.

Ameer Bustami was shot dead by Israeli forces in the city of Nablus, the Palestinian Red Crescent was cited as saying by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The daily said the Palestinian health ministry had identified Bustami. Both Haaretz and the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported his age as 21. The New Arab's Arabic sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed said he was 20 years old.

Israeli forces besieged a residential building that had Palestinian fighters inside, according to media reports.

Armed fighting erupted for four hours, with the sound of gunfire and explosions heard throughout Nablus, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed said.

Bustami was killed and at least seven people were wounded. It was not clear if he had been involved in the shootout.

Among the injured were two youths Israeli forces detained after they were shot near the besieged building, Palestinian Red Crescent emergency and ambulance director Ahmad Jibril said.

Israeli forces targeted medical staff and journalists with gunfire, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

Israeli radio said the army raided Nablus seeking to arrest members of the Lions' Den armed group.

The broadcaster said troops engaged in a shootout with members of the group and were able to injure and then arrest two of them.

The Israeli army said it raided Nablus to arrest suspects in a military sergeant's October killing, Haaretz reported.

The army said two suspects in Ido Baruch's death were taken in after being injured in a shootout.

Three further arrests were made of other individuals considered wanted.

With Bustami's death, the number of Palestinians killed so far this year by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has risen to 47, according to a count by The New Arab. It means an average of more than one Palestinian killed per day.

The bloody start to 2023 comes after nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in those territories by Israeli forces in 2022, making it the deadliest year there since 2004, according to leading Israeli rights group B'Tselem.

Israel began carrying out near-nightly and often deadly raids in the West Bank last spring. The cities of Jenin and Nablus have been heavily targeted.

Agencies contributed to this report.