A man sits by the Qalandia checkpoint after, according to Israel's police, a suspected Palestinian gunman opened fire at the Israeli checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, wounding a security guard before he was shot dead by Israeli forces at the scene, June 24, 2023. REUTERS/Sinan Abu Mayzer
A Palestinian militant opened fire at an Israeli checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, wounded a security guard before being shot dead by forces on the scene, according to Israeli police.
The gunman was a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed group affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party. He was recognized as an 18-year-old from Kafr Aqab by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Police distributed a photo of an M-16 rifle they said was used by the gunman to carry out the shooting.
Violence surged this week in the West Bank, where for over a year the military has conducted regular sweeps leading to repeated clashes with Palestinian fighters amid a spate of Palestinian street attacks on Israelis.
The past few days saw deadly clashes in the city of Jenin, a fatal Palestinian shooting attack near a settlement, attacks on Palestinian villages by settlers and a rare Israeli air strike in the West Bank against militants.
On Friday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan encouraged more steps to restore calm between Israel and the Palestinians during a call with his Israeli counterpart, the White House said.
U.S.-brokered peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel aimed at establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, collapsed in 2014 and show no sign of revival.
