News / Palestine

Israel imposes closure on al-Khalil, surrounding areas

Friday, 01 July 2016 6:08 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 01 July 2016 6:10 PM ]

Israeli forces inspect the scene where an Israeli died and three of his relatives were wounded after a gunman opened fire at their car on July 1, 2016, near the Fawwar refugee camp, south of al-Khalil (Hebron), the occupied West Bank. (AFP photo)

Israel imposed a closure Friday on the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron) and its surrounding areas hours after an Israeli man was killed there.

Peter Lerner, the spokesman for the Israeli military, said hundreds of troops were also deployed in the city.

He said the move was one of the "most substantial steps on the ground" since 2014. The Israeli military official did not say how long the closure would last.

Earlier in the day, an Israeli man was killed and three members of his family were injured when their car came under gunfire from a passing vehicle near al-Khalil.

The Israeli military said in a statement that an assailant opened fire at the family car as it was travelling near the Fawwar refugee camp, south of al-Khalil. The vehicle crashed as a result and flipped over.

Also on Friday, Israeli forces shot dead a 27-year-old Palestinian woman, identified as Sarah Tarayra, after she allegedly attempted to carry out a stabbing attack near the revered Muslim religious monument of the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil.

On Thursday, Israelis killed a Palestinian teenager, claiming that he stabbed a 13-year-old resident of an illegal Israeli settlement.

The occupied Palestinian territories have been the scene of heightened tensions since August 2015, when Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds. Palestinians are angry at increasing violence by Israeli settlers at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, saying the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status quo of the sacred site.

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