A Palestinian man died of his injuries on Friday after Israeli forces shot him, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, during what the Israeli army said was an early-morning raid on suspected militants in the occupied West Bank.
Salah Tawfiq Sawafta, 58, was shot in the head in the West Bank town of Tubas, the Palestinian ministry said. His nephew told Reuters that Sawafta was returning to his house after morning prayers when he was hit.
A video circulating on social media appears to show Sawafta moments before he was shot. Gunshots ring out as Sawafta, wearing the traditional galabiya robe, runs for cover in a bakery.
The Israeli army said the Palestinians in Tubas had thrown Molotov cocktails and opened fire on its forces, who fired back.
Overnight, the army detained five suspects from Tubas and the nearby city of Tammun who were allegedly involved in planning “terrorist attacks”, it said in a statement.
The Islamic Jihad militant group said one of its top members, publisher Ma’moun Na’eem Bani Odeh, 32, was detained during the Tammun raid.
“It is clear that the occupation forces are carrying out a campaign of raids and arrests against resistance cadres and the Islamic Jihad movement in the occupied West Bank,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Israeli warplanes bombed the blockaded Gaza Strip in what the army said was a pre-emptive strike to avert an imminent threat to Israel from Islamic Jihad.
At least 49 people were killed in Gaza, including civilians and children, and hundreds more were injured during 56 hours of fighting, which also saw more than 1,000 rockets fired at Israel by Islamic Jihad.
In recent months, Israeli forces have carried out almost daily incursions into the West Bank after Palestinians from the area carried out deadly street attacks in Israel.