A young Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli police in a West Bank town near Jerusalem on Saturday as he allegedly attempted to hurl Molotov cocktails, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry and media reports, Fayez Damdum, 18, was shot by police in al-Eizariya on the outskirts of East Jerusalem while riding on a motorcycle.
Earlier, in the adjacent town of Abu Dis, Palestinians damaged a section of the West Bank security barrier, according to footage published by Palestinian media outlets.
Police said officers were in the area to respond to a violent riot, which included Palestinians hurling explosive devices, firebombs and stones at forces.
“During the operation, a suspect who tried to throw a Molotov cocktail at our forces was neutralized with gunfire,” a police spokesman said in a statement.
Damdum was treated by Border Police officers at the scene, footage showed, and then taken by the Palestinian Red Crescent to a nearby hospital, where his death was declared.
Young men manage to break down the gate in the separation wall in the town of Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/VuvEsAtrIf
— AlQastal Al Qastal (@AlQastalps) October 1, 2022
#urgent | The death of Fayez Khaled Damdom, 18 years old #Occupation In the town of Al-Azariya in Jerusalem.#Al-Aqsa_in_danger #Al-Aqsa is crying out pic.twitter.com/wt7hCTsocC
– Al-Aqsa TV Channel (@SerajSat) October 1, 2022
No officers were reported to have been hurt in the incident.
The incident came as the Israel Defense Forces and police were on heightened alert since last week amid the Jewish holiday season, with tensions already high due to an Israeli anti-terror offensive that has seen over 100 Palestinians killed and more than 2,000 arrested in nightly raids in the West Bank.
In the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at Israeli troops operating near the village of Burqa, and at the settlement of Beit El in a separate incident, the IDF said.
Palestinian gunmen in recent months have targeted military posts, troops operating along the West Bank security barrier, Israeli settlements and civilians on the roads.
Israeli troops have also repeatedly come under gunfire during nightly raids in Palestinian cities in the West Bank.
The military launched the arrest operations after a series of attacks that killed 19 people between mid-March and the beginning of May.
