Two Palestinians killed in separate incidents with Israeli forces, Palestinians say

By Emily Rose

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Two Palestinians died in separate incidents with Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Palestinian officials said, the latest in a wave of violence that has intensified in recent months.

A 15-year-old Palestinian militant was killed during a firefight with Israeli soldiers in Nablus and a Palestinian man succumbed to his wounds after Israeli forces fired at him near Jenin, Palestinian officials said.

The head of the Palestine Red Crescent in Jenin, Mahmoud al-Saadi, told Reuters that the ambulance service was called to transfer the man to hospital after he sustained gunshot wounds in his legs.

Local sources said the man was a Palestinian labourer trying to cross through a breach in the separation fence. The Israeli military said in a statement its forces followed standard operating procedures, including the use of live fire, after spotting a suspect vandalising the fence. Soldiers treated the man at the scene before he was taken to a hospital, it added.

A statement from the Palestinian health ministry said the teen died of shrapnel wounds sustained during clashes with the Israeli military early Wednesday but a statement from the Palestinian Fatah Movement said he was shot dead by Israeli fire. The militant al-Aqsa Brigades, an offshoot of the Fatah movement, claimed him as one of its members.

The Israeli military did not confirm the teen's death but said it had been securing the entrance to a site known as Joseph's Tomb, in the West Bank city of Nablus and that troops opened fire after an explosive device was placed in the area.

Local media reported that soldiers were there to guard a visiting group of newly elected parliamentarians from the right-wing bloc that won last week's election in Israel.

Joseph's Tomb has been the scene of repeated clashes between Palestinians and Jewish visitors, who believe it is the burial place of the Jewish patriarch. Palestinians say it is the shrine of a sheikh.

The Israeli military would not confirm soldiers were there to guard a delegation but the Likud party's Boaz Bismuth posted pictures of himself on Twitter visiting the tomb with elected officials from other right-wing parties.

The West Bank city of Nablus has been an epicentre for clashes between Palestinian militant groups and Israeli forces in recent months. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in clashes since the beginning of the year.

Most of the casualties have been recorded since March when the Israeli army launched a crackdown in the West Bank following a series of attacks by Palestinian militants which have killed 21 people in Israel and Israeli settlements.

(Reporting by Emily Rose and Ali SawaftaEditing by Tomasz Janowski and Jonathan Oatis)