Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian man Sunday by hitting him with their jeep after shooting him during clashes in the eastern Ramallah village of Kafr Malik, Palestinian medical sources told Ma’an. The mayor of Ramallah, Laila Ghannam, told reporters that 22-year-old Abdullah Iyad Ghanayim had been killed by Israeli soldiers “in cold blood.”

Palestinian sources said that Ghanayim had been shot in the lower back during clashes before a military jeep lost control and flipped on top of him on the sidewalk. Witnesses said the jeep had been chasing Ghanayim after he had thrown stones. The soldiers reportedly climbed out of the military jeep leaving Ghanayim under the vehicle for more than an hour.

An Israeli army spokeswoman gave a conflicting report, saying that during army “activities,” a “suspicious man” attempted to throw a Molotov cocktail at Israeli forces. One of the army vehicles swerved and lost control, hitting the Palestinian on the side of the road, she said, referring to the incident as an “accident.”

She said Israeli emergency services arrived on the scene to treat “everyone” harmed, although she added that she could not confirm Ghanayim’s death as he had been attended to by Palestinian medics. She said the incident was under investigation.
Ghanayim served two years in Israeli jails and was freed only three months ago.

Local sources said six other Palestinians were injured during the clashes after they were shot by Israeli forces with rubber-coated steel bullets. Ghanayim is the second Palestinian to die in clashes with Israeli forces in less than a week, after a man was shot dead during a confrontation with the army on Wednesday in Jenin refugee camp.

According to the UN, Israeli soldiers have killed 13 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the year. MAAN