Israeli troops besiege Ramallah after two soldiers killed
Israeli forces have besieged Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and sent in reinforcements after two soldiers were shot dead in the Palestinian city.
Army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said on Thursday the military was sending "a few more infantry battalions" to conduct operations in the West Bank.
"Entrances and exits to the city are all closed. We are conducting searches," media outlets quoted him as saying.
At least one man was shot dead by Israeli soldiers and several others injured as violent clashes broke out in multiple places.
The Israeli army said the attacker emerged from a vehicle and shot at soldiers near the settlements of Beit El and Ofra. Two soldiers were killed and at least two other people, including a soldier, were wounded and the attacker fled.
Following the shooting, Israeli forces detained four Palestinians, including a female minor, during raids in search of the suspect.
On Wednesday night, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in separate operations over the span of six hours.
In total six people were killed in the most violent 24 hours to hit the West Bank and Jerusalem al-Quds in months.
Since Sunday, Israeli forces have made a series of incursions into central Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas is based.
The authority has blamed Israel’s illegal settlement activities in the occupied territories for renewed tensions in the West Bank.
"The climate created by the policy of repeated intrusions into the cities, the provocations against the sovereignty of the president and the lack of a horizon for peace are what led to this" flare-up, Abbas said.
In a separate development in the West Bank on Thursday, dozens of extremist settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles near the Israeli settlement of Yizthar south of Nablus.
Local sources said one person sustained injures as Israeli settlers showered Palestinian vehicles with rocks, severely damaging at least three cars.
Around 600,000 Israelis now live in settlements considered illegal by the international community.
Tensions escalated in the occupied Palestinian territories after President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s "capital" and relocation of the US embassy to the city.
Angered by Trump’s move, Abbas boycotted his administration, saying Washington was no longer qualified to serve as a mediator in the decades-long conflict with Israel.
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