Yaabad: The Israeli army suffered its first fatality this year on Tuesday when a Palestinian stone-thrower killed a soldier in the occupied West Bank, a day before US-Israeli talks on annexation.
The army said the 21-year-old soldier was hit in the head “during operational activity” in the village of Yaabad near the northern city of Jenin.
Palestinian security sources said that clashes had erupted overnight when Israeli forces raided the village.
The unrest came a day before US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due in Jerusalem for discussions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and incoming defence minister Benny Gantz.
The US-Israel meeting, a day before a new Israeli government is due to be sworn in, will focus partly on President Donald Trump’s controversial Middle East peace plan.
The plan, categorically rejected by the Palestinians, gives Israel the green light to annex Jewish settlements and strategic areas of the West Bank.
For much of the international community, such a move by Israel would amount to a grave violation of international law and crush hopes of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It would also likely further inflame regional tensions.
Under the terms of the Netanyahu-Gantz coalition agreements, West Bank annexation plans can be brought to parliament or cabinet from July 1.
Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said troops had entered Yaabad to round up Palestinian suspects.
He described the village as “a known hotspot of terrorists and sympathisers and supporters of terrorist activities”.
The forces were leaving the village when the rock was thrown, striking the soldier on the head, he said, adding that troops were searching for the perpetrator.
The blow was fatal, although the soldier had been wearing a helmet, he added.-PUNA