Israeli troops kill Palestinian hurling rocks at cars on highway

West Bank health officials identified the deceased as a man aged 32

An Israeli soldier runs towards Palestinian demonstrators during clashes in the village of Kfar Qaddu, near the city of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on March 6, 2020. AFP

Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man who was hurling rocks at Israeli cars driving along a motorway in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, the military said.

Palestinian health officials identified the deceased and said he was 32 years old.

“Troops spotted a number of suspects hurling rocks at Israeli vehicles driving on the highway,” the military said in a statement.

They also said they opened fire to prevent more cars being hit.

A picture released by the military showed a car with its windshield smashed by a large rock. It did not say whether the driver was injured.

It comes after the Palestinian Authority imposed a two-week ban on all non-essential movements to curb the spread of Covid-19, as the number of confirmed cases in the occupied West Bank hit 57.

“People will have to observe a compulsory 14-day quarantine at their homes as of 10pm (20:00 GMT),” it said a statement carried by the official Wafa news agency.

The restrictions announced by Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh exclude “those working in healthcare centres, bakeries, pharmacies and grocery stores”, the statement said.

“Residents of villages and refugee camps will not be allowed to commute to city centres,” it said.

Israel occupied the West Bank in the Middle East War of 1967 and exercises full control over access to the territory.

About 400,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, communities considered illegal under international law.

Thousands of Palestinians are employed in them and Israel said last week that those workers would still be allowed to enter and leave daily.

But Mr Shtayyeh reversed that policy, saying: “Workers at Israeli settlements shall not be allowed to continue to work there during the emergency period.”

The Palestinian Authority had previously warned about possibly high numbers of coronavirus cases in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Israel has 1,238 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

The tightened West Bank restrictions came into force after the first two cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Gaza, which is ruled by the militant Islamist group Hamas.