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Photo:
Scenes. Published by Maan News
Muhammad Hussein Ahmad Tnouh. Published by Maan News
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian in the southern occupied West Bank village of Tuqu on Thursday afternoon, sparking clashes in which at least one Palestinian was injured.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an that a Palestinian attempted to stab Israeli soldiers at an Israeli military checkpoint near Tuqu, adding that "responding to the immediate threat," soldiers shot and killed the man. They added that no Israelis were injured in the case.

A Ma'an reporter present at the scene said that Israeli soldiers fired four shots towards the Palestinian near Tuqu's school, while eyewitnesses said that an Israeli military vehicle then run over the man.

The army spokesperson said they would look into the reports of the Palestinian being run over.

Palestinian medical and security sources identified the slain Palestinian as 26-year-old Muhammad Hussein Ahmad Tnouh.

Israeli forces prevented bystanders and Palestinian medics from approaching the scene, and were seen covering up the Tnouh's body with a sheet as he lay by an army vehicle's wheel.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent told Ma'an that one of the organization's ambulances had been prevented from accessing and treating Tnouh.

Following the killing, clashes erupted in Tuqu between residents and Israeli forces, as soldiers fired live bullets and rubber-coated steel bullets towards the crowd, injuring a Palestinian police officer who was hit by a rubber-coated steel bullet to the head.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an they would look into reports of clashes.

According to Ma'an documentation, 46 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis thus far this year, 10 of whom were killed in the month of July alone.

Tnouh is the third resident of Tuqu to have been killed in 2017, after 17-year-old Qusay al-Umour and 24-year-old Muhammad Jibril.

Ten Israelis have been killed by Palestinians during the same time frame.
Though Israeli forces have claimed that Palestinians were allegedly attempting to carry out attacks in a majority of instances when Palestinians were killed, rights groups have disputed Israel's version of events in a number of cases, and argued that many alleged attackers could have been subdued in a non-lethal manner.