Israeli military investigates fatal shooting of Palestinian

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Israeli military said on Thursday it was investigating the fatal shooting of a Palestinian civilian in the occupied West Bank, who residents said was killed by soldiers while returning from work in Israel.

In a statement, the military said troops operating on Wednesday near a highway where Israeli vehicles had come under fire-bomb attack earlier in the week, had fired at a “suspect, who fled the area”. Some 90 minutes later, “a civilian with a gunshot wound” arrived at an Israeli military checkpoint in critical condition and was treated by medical personnel, but died, the statement said.

Palestinian residents identified the deceased as a 39-year-old man who lives near the scene of the shooting. They said he could work legally in Israel and was on his way home when he was shot. “The incident is under review, and is simultaneously being investigated by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division,” the military said. “The findings will be transferred to the Military Advocate General’s Corps for examination.”

The West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, areas where Palestinians hope to create an independent state, were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War. Violence has erupted often since U.S.-sponsored peace talks broke down in 2014.