Multiple sources claim that an Israeli soldier was killed on Friday night in the occupied West Bank during a fight with a Palestinian activist who was a part of the Hamas movement.
“Mohammad Jibril Roummaneh died as a result of serious injuries caused by bullets fired by the occupying forces in El-Bireh” northeast of Ramallah, wrote the Palestinian Ministry of Health in a statement.
It stated that a second Palestinian had been hurt but provided no further information.
Roummaneh was identified as one of Hamas’ members who died as a “heroic martyr” while “defending the freedom of (his) people” close to the settlement of Psagot, according to a statement the group released.
The phrase was shown beside a picture of a young man.
“Assailants hurled Molotov cocktails at a military post adjacent to the (settlement) of Psagot”, next to El-Bireh, the Israeli army said.
“Soldiers… identified the suspects and responded with live fire,” the statement added. “Two assailants were neutralised and transferred to receive medical treatment.”
An army spokeswoman declined to confirm that one of the two had passed away, despite the Palestinian Authority and Hamas’s announcements to that effect when questioned by AFP.
Since the start of the year, violence related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of at least 242 Palestinians, 32 Israelis, a Ukrainian, and an Italian.
