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Photo: Muatazz Washaha, 24.

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RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man on Thursday after opening fire on a property in Birzeit, locals said.

Muatazz Washaha, 24, was found dead inside the house following a stand-off between Israeli military forces which lasted several hours.

Witnesses said that the victim was hit in the head by a rifle-fired Energa shell.

Israeli forces were reportedly trying to arrest Muatazz for being an activist with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

During the dawn raid, Israeli forces stormed the house and detained his brother, Ramiz, and two other men. Earlier reports suggested Israeli forces were targeting another brother, Thaer.

Palestinian firefighters rushed to the scene after the house caught on fire as a result of Israeli artillery shelling.

Palestinian Authority Minister of Detainees, Issa Qaraqe, said Israeli troops raided Birzeit at around 3 a.m.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said that Israeli forces raided Birzeit to arrest a man suspected of "terror activity."

"After the suspect was called to turn himself in, he barricaded himself inside his house, effectively resisting arrest. Under the premise that he had weapons in his possession, the forces used different means to complete the arrest, including live fire."

An AK47 assault rifle was found in the house, but no shots were fired at any point towards Israeli forces.

The suspect was found dead in the property, the army spokeswoman added.

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HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Three Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces on Thursday during a protest near Hebron following the killing of Muatazz Washaha, 24, in the central West Bank earlier in the day.

Local youths in al-Fawwar refugee camp threw stones and empty bottles at Israeli soldiers, who responded by firing rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas.

Israeli forces closed the main entrance to the camp and prevented cars from passing along the road as a result.

Washaha, 24, was killed during an arrest raid in Birzeit early Thursday.

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by Chris Carlson - 1 of International Middle East Media Center Editorial Group Report post

An Israeli elite police force, disguised as Arabs, executed a Palestinian after raiding a property in Birzeit, Thursday morning.

AIC reports that the unit raided the large building, in the Palestinian village of Birzeit, in order to detain wanted Palestinians. During the raid, which started at 3 a.m., the force captured two brothers. However, a third one, 24-year-old Muatazz Washaha, refused to leave the building and took cover within the house for several hours.

According to local witnesses, Washaha surrendered at around 10 a.m., and was then executed by Israeli police officers in front of the house, with a shot to the head. Several school students were witnesses to the execution.

After the execution the forces fired upon the house, setting it afire.

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By ISABEL KERSHNERFEB. 27, 2014

for the New York Times

JERUSALEM — A Palestinian man was found dead in his home in the West Bank town of Bir Zeit on Thursday after a standoff with Israeli forces that had come to arrest him, according to the Israeli military.

The military said in a statement that the man, identified as Mutaz Washaha, 25, was “suspected of terror activity,” without elaborating. It added that the forces employed various means, including live fire, to complete the arrest, acting “under the premise that he had weapons in his possession.” The military said an assault rifle was later found in the house. There was no indication that Mr. Washaha had used it to fire at the Israeli forces.

The Palestinian Authority government condemned the killing, calling it an assassination. In a statement, the government said Israeli forces had “shelled the house, destroying a part of it, and then stormed it and killed Washaha.” It added that such actions undermined peace efforts.

The killing came as Amnesty International published a report on Thursday accusing Israeli forces of being “trigger happy” and using excessive force in the West Bank. The human rights organization said it had documented the killings of 22 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank in 2013, a sharp rise from the previous two years. At least 14 of them were killed during protests, the group said, adding that in all the cases the Palestinians did not appear to have been posing a direct and immediate threat to life.

“Although some of the victims were engaged in stone throwing,” the report stated, “the circumstances of all their deaths point to them having been victims of unlawful killings, including — in some cases — possible willful killings.” It said the Israeli system of investigating such deaths was inadequate and called on world powers to suspend all transfers of munitions, weapons and other equipment to Israel.

The Israeli military rejected the findings, saying Amnesty International had ignored “the substantial increase in Palestinian violence” over the past year and had shown “a complete lack of understanding as to operational challenges” the army faces.

It said in a statement that rock hurling jeopardized the lives of civilians and military personnel, adding that 132 Israelis were injured by rocks last year and that half of the 5,000 instances of rock hurling were in the direction of main roads. The military said that where feasible, it uses riot dispersal means to contain the violence. “Only once these tools have been exhausted and human life and safety remains under threat,” it said, “is the use of precision munition authorized.”

The Amnesty International report highlighted several cases, including that of Samir Awwad, 16, who was fatally shot by Israeli forces in January 2013 during a protest against the Israeli-built barrier in the village of Budrus. Witness reports and the teenager’s injuries indicated he had been shot from behind as he tried to flee. An Israeli military spokesman said at the time that several Palestinians had damaged the fence and that live fire was used to “prevent an infiltration.”

Budrus was an early symbol of Palestinian resistance against the barrier that Israel has built over the last decade with the purpose of keeping Palestinian suicide bombers out of Israeli cities.

According to the Amnesty International report, the Military Advocate General Corps announced that it had opened an investigation into the shooting, but the findings have yet to be revealed. B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, said that more than a year on, the military advocate for operational matters had yet to decide whether to prosecute. A spokeswoman for B’Tselem said Thursday that the military advocate general’s office told the group that it was carrying out additional inquiries.

Amnesty International said that it had requested meetings with the Israeli military’s Central Command, which is responsible for the West Bank, and the office of the military advocate general, but that neither had accepted.