JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli settler opened fire on a group of Palestinians throwing rocks at his car, killing one and injuring a journalist.

The shooter, a father of eight from Itamar in the West Bank who was on his way home from the supermarket, said he felt his life was in danger when he opened fire Thursday afternoon into a crowd of 200 Palestinians who were protesting in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, according to reports citing the Israel Defense Forces.

The man and his wife, who also was in the car, told Ynet that the rioters encircled the car and they feared they would be lynched. Both the front and back windshield were smashed and the sides of the car pocked with dents from rocks, according to reports.

The killed Palestinian was identified by the Palestinian Maan news agency as Muataz Hussein Hilal Bani Shamsa, 23, from the Nablus-area village of Beita. He was shot in the head and died of his wounds at the scene. The injured journalist was identified as Associated Press photographer Majdi Eshtiya, who was shot in the hand.

Following the shooting, the Israel Defense Forces broke up the mob using non-lethal riot-dispersal methods, according to reports.

A similar incident occurred the day before near the Palestinian village of Silwad in the West Bank. The Israeli settler who shot and wounded a Palestinian man who threw rocks at his car was detained, but was released after proving it was in self-defense. The Palestinian rock thrower also was detained. </s> "One of the Israeli citizens whose car was damaged from the rocks fired into the air,"

"From what we understand it is not from [soldiers'] fire, but the incident is still under review."

"There were two incidents over the last couple of days. In the first one, a [settler] having been stoned, got out of his car and shot at the demonstrators who were trying to flee the scene. This is obviously beyond what he had to do in order to rescue himself, so this is doubtful,"

"The other incident today is yet to be disproven, because his version was that he felt that his life was under severe threat and he had to shoot to extricate himself."

A Palestinian was killed by an Israeli settler who shot at protesters who were throwing rocks at his car, the Health Ministry of the Palestinian Territories says. An AP photographer was also injured by the gunfire.The shooting occurred south of the city of Nablus in the occupied Palestinian West Bank on Thursday., when an Israeli settler in a car attempted to drive through the crowd. The protest was held in support of Palestinian prisoners of Israeli jails, who have been on hunger strike since April 17.The Palestinians reportedly surrounded the car and damaged it with stones.A Palestinian identified by the Health Ministry as 23-year-old Muataz Bani Shemsay, resident of a nearby village, died from a gunshot wound to the head. A photographer with Associated Press was injured by gunfire, AFP reports citing Palestinian medics.The Israeli military acknowledged the incident, branding the protest aand confirming the casualties among the Palestinians. A military spokesperson, however, claimed that the soldiers had not used lethal weapons, but onlywhile the settler allegedly only fired into the air.AFP cited the military spokesperson as saying.A settler regional council in the northern West Bank confirmed to Haaretz that the shooter was one of their own.It remained unclear whether his actions would be the subject of any investigation.It's the second such incident in just two days. On Wednesday, a Palestinian allegedly throwing stones at Israeli cars along the West Bank's main highway was shot and slightly injured by an Israeli settler. The settler claimed he had acted in self-defense, as some stones allegedly hit his vehicle.Israeli law enforcement questioned the settler and his friend, who also was in the car and subsequently released them. However, the investigation into their illegal use of a firearm will continue, according to the police.Haaretz newspaper editorial board and columnist Amir Oren told RT. </s> After the near-lynching of a Jewish motorist in the town of Hawara on Route 60 Thursday, the army needs to shut down Arab traffic in the area and reassess its open-fire policy, MK Motti Yogev (Jewish Home) said in an interview with Arutz Sheva.

Earlier on Thursday, a social worker and father of eight from the town of Itamar in Samaria was attacked by hundreds of Arab rioters as he drove home from the supermarket.

The driver’s path was blocked on Route 60 in the town of Hawara, which is built round the road. Unable to escape, the Jewish motorist found himself surrounded by a lynch mob of 200 rioting Arabs who stoned his car and attempted to force their way inside. The driver opened fire on his attackers, killing one terrorist and wounding a second.

“There’s been an apparent escalation in terror attacks on the roads and in other places lately, in Hawara its repeating itself every day at different places,” said Yogev. “This equation where on the one hand there’s a bit of incompetence on the part of army officials and on the other hand citizens are forced to defend themselves, only to be interrogated for hours then have their guns taken away - that’s a dangerous equation that needs to be stopped.”

Citizens, Yogev continued, have every right to defend themselves without fear of reprisal or harassment by the authorities.

“A Jew who is attacked, whether it is by a knife[-wielding terrorist] at Damascus Gate [in the Old City of Jerusalem] or by stones or at roadblocks made to facilitate a lynch inside his car and his life is endangered,” said Yogev, invoking the Talmudic dictum of “whoever comes to kill you, kill him first.”

“That’s basic morality, and all of this business [regarding when people can shoot to save their lives] needs to be much shorter.”

The IDF must reassess its open-fire policies, Yogev argued, taking into account the increased dangers citizens and soldiers alike face from Arab terrorism. Yogev also suggested the army close Route 60 to Arab traffic.

“The IDF needs to get ahold of itself and make sure that the open-fire orders are suitable for the situation, to make sure that there are enough forces on the ground to secure the roads and towns and to close Shechem and close Hawara to Arab traffic. You can’t let the lawbreakers be the ones able to travel there while the victims are the ones prevented from doing so.” </s> A Palestinian was killed by an Israeli settler on Thursday during a clash near the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry and security sources said.

The clash near a military post erupted when an Israeli settler in a car attempted to cross a crowd of Palestinian protesters, with the settler and Israeli soldiers opening fire, Palestinian security sources said.

The Palestinian killed was identified by the health ministry as Muataz Bani Shemsay, 23, from a village near Nablus. He was shot in the head, it said.

A photographer with Associated Press news agency was also wounded by gunfire but was in stable condition, medics said.

Israel's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hundreds of Palestinians had gathered at an Israeli military checkpoint at Huwara, south of Nablus and the regular site of clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian stone-throwers.

The protest was held in support of hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails on hunger strike since April 17.

An Israeli settler attempted to drive through the crowd, the security sources said, and was surrounded by protesters who threw stones at the car.

He then exited the car and opened fire along with soldiers who were deployed at the scene, according to the sources.

A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 264 Palestinians, 41 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, the Israeli authorities say.

Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip.

The violence has subsided in recent months. </s> NABLUS - A Palestinian was killed by an Israeli settler during a clash near the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry and security sources said.

The clash near a military post erupted when an Israeli settler in a car attempted to cross a crowd of Palestinian protesters, with the settler and Israeli soldiers opening fire, Palestinian security sources said.The Palestinian killed was identified by the health ministry as Muataz Bani Shemsay, 23, from a village near Nablus. He was shot in the head, it said.

A photographer with Associated Press news agency was also wounded by gunfire but was in stable condition, medics said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said a “violent riot broke out” that saw Palestinians throw rocks at passing cars.

Soldiers “responded with riot-dispersal means. One of the Israeli citizens whose car was damaged from the rocks fired into the air.” The spokeswoman confirmed one person was killed and another wounded. “From what we understand it is not from (soldiers’) fire, but the incident is still under review,” she said.

Hundreds of Palestinians had gathered at an Israeli military checkpoint at Huwara, south of Nablus and the regular site of clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian stone-throwers.

The protest was held in support of hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails on hunger strike since April 17.

An Israeli settler attempted to drive into the crowd, the security sources said, and was surrounded by protesters who threw stones at the car.

He then got out of the car and opened fire along with soldiers who deployed, the sources said.

A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 264 Palestinians, 41 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, the Israeli authorities say.

Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. The violence has subsided in recent months. </s> NABLUS, West Bank, May 18 (Reuters) - A Palestinian man was killed in the occupied West Bank on Thursday when an Israeli settler opened fire as protesters crowded around his car and pelted it with rocks, according to multiple accounts.

A Reuters photographer and other witnesses said hundreds of Palestinians had gathered near the city of Nablus to show support for Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails. During their demonstration, they blocked a main road used by both Palestinians and Israeli settlers.

The Israeli military said the Palestinians began throwing rocks at passing vehicles, including one belonging to a settler.

Video footage showed a grey four-door car being forced to a halt in the middle of the road, next to an ambulance, and being bombarded with rocks. The driver can be seen inside, drawing a handgun and firing at least three shots towards the sides of the road, although the target is not clear.

Yossi Dagan, head of the settlers' Samaria regional council, said he had spoken with the settler, who told him he had been in fear of his life when he fired. "He pulled his gun out to defend himself, in order to stop them from lynching him. He fired."

Majdi Mohammed, a Palestinian photographer for the Associated Press who was wounded by the gunshots, described what he saw.

"When the army arrived, he (the settler) started shooting. I had my back turned to him. I put my hand on my head. The one next to me was hit by a bullet in his head, and people said he was killed," he told reporters.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said soldiers had arrived to disperse the demonstration. She said the settler in the car had acknowledged firing his gun, and confirmed that one man had been killed and one injured.

The army said it was investigating the incident. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the dead man was a 23-year-old Palestinian.

There have been several clashes in recent days between settlers and Palestinians.

Nickolay Mladenov, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East, said that "this deplorable incident must be promptly and thoroughly investigated and all suspected of being involved must be prosecuted".

At least 245 Palestinians and one Jordanian citizen have been killed since a wave of sporadic violence began in 2015 in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Israel says at least 165 of those killed were carrying out stabbings, shootings or car ramming attacks. Others died during clashes and protests.

Thirty-seven Israelis, two American tourists and a British student have been killed in the violence, which has slowed in recent months but not stopped.

Israel says the Palestinian leadership is inciting the violence. The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, denies incitement and says that, in many cases, Israel has used excessive force in thwarting attackers armed with rudimentary weapons. (Reporting by Ali Sawafta; Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Kevin Liffey) </s> JERUSALEM -- Palestinian police say a 19-year-old has been shot dead by Israeli forces during stone-throwing clashes in the West Bank.

Police say Ahmad Rimawi was shot in the chest Sunday after hurling stones at Israeli troops in Beit Rima, near Ramallah.

The Israeli military says dozens of rioters attacked security forces, injuring one border policeman. It said the forces responded with riot dispersal means.

Since last year, Palestinian attackers have killed 36 Israelis and two visiting Americans in a series of mostly stabbing attacks. During that time, 229 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were attackers while the rest died in clashes.

Israel says the violence is driven by Palestinian incitement. Palestinians say it's the result of nearly 50 years of Israeli occupation. </s> A Palestinian man carried out a car-ramming next to a bus stop near a settlement in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, killing one Israeli and wounding another, officials said.

The incident near the Israeli settlement of Ofra came ahead of the Jewish Passover holiday beginning on Monday, which has raised fears of an upsurge in violence.

The alleged attacker was arrested, an Israeli army statement said, without giving details about him.

He was identified as Malek Hamed, 22, from the nearby West Bank town of Silwad, by official Palestinian news agency WAFA, which also said he had been shot and wounded.

Following the incident, a vehicle with Palestinian licence plates, which had mounted the pavement, was seen surrounded by soldiers.

Israeli emergency services said the dead man was in his 20s and the wounded one 19.

The incident took place next to a bus stop outside Ofra, north of Ramallah.

It was the first fatal attack on Israelis since January 8, when a Palestinian killed four soldiers in a Jerusalem truck-ramming attack.

A wave of violence that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 259 Palestinians, 41 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities.

Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip.

The violence has greatly subsided in recent months.

There are fears the week-long Passover holiday will lead to a fresh outbreak of violence, particularly if there is an increase in Jewish visitors to the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem.

The site is holy to both Muslims and Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.

It is located in east Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed, and is central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Tensions regularly flare over the site, with Palestinians fearing Israel will seek to assert further control over it.

Jews are allowed to visit the site but not pray there to avoid provoking tensions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said repeatedly that he has no intention of changing that status quo, though hardline members of his coalition push for Jewish prayer rights there. </s> BURQIN, West Bank - Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian teenager during an arrest raid in the village of Burqin in the West Bank, Palestinian health officials said on Saturday.



A Reuters witness said about 200 Palestinians were throwing stones at Israeli military vehicles when a shot was heard, adding that a wounded person was then carried to a car.



Israel's military, which said it was checking the report, said its forces had been searching in Burqin for suspects involved in the fatal drive-by shooting of an Israeli rabbi from nearby Havat Gilad on January 9.



Israeli forces in the adjacent city of Jenin last month shot and killed a Palestinian gunman whom they suspected of involvement in the rabbi's shooting.



The Palestinian Health Ministry said the teenager killed on Saturday was 19 years old, while the hospital in Jenin where he was taken said he had been shot in the head.

 

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In a shooting incident near Huwara in the West Bank, a mob of some 200 Arabs hurl stones and rocks toward an Israeli car and try to lynch the driver. The Israeli driver fires his weapon, killing one Palestinian.