Israeli soldiers kill 55-year-old Palestinian and teenager in West Bank

RAMALLAH/JERUSALEM: Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian teenager who was driving a car towards them as well as a Palestinian bystander in the West Bank on Saturday, according to an Israeli security official.

The military said that an “uninvolved person” was hit in addition to the driver of the car who had “accelerated” towards soldiers at a checkpoint in West Bank city of Hebron.

In an earlier statement, the military said two “terrorists” were killed after soldiers opened fire, before later clarifying that only one was involved.

An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a 17-year-old was driving the car and a 55-year-old was the bystander.

Palestinian state news agency WAFA reported that 55-year-old Ziad Naim Abu Dawood, a municipal street cleaner, was killed while working.

It said another Palestinian was killed but did not report the circumstances that led the soldiers to open fire.

The Palestinian health ministry identified the second Palestinian as 17-year-old Ahmed Khalil Al-Rajabi.

The military did not report any injuries to the soldiers.

The motive for the 17-year-old’s actions was not immediately clear, and no militant group claimed responsibility.

Earlier, negotiations on consolidating the U.S.-backed truce in the war in Gaza are at a “critical” moment, Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said on Saturday.

Mediators are working to force the next phase of the ceasefire forward, al-Thani, whose country has been a key mediator in the war, said during a panel discussion at the Doha Forum conference in Qatar.

Violence has subsided but not stopped since the Gaza truce took effect on October 10.

“We are at a critical moment. It’s not yet there. So what we have just done is a pause,” al-Thani said.

“We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire. A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces – (until) there is stability back in Gaza, people can go in and out – which is not the case today.”

Talks on the next stages of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the two-year war in the Palestinian enclave have been continuing.

The plan calls for an interim technocratic Palestinian government in Gaza, overseen by an international “board of peace” and backed by an international security force. Agreeing on the makeup and mandate of that force has been particularly challenging.

On Thursday, an Israeli delegation held talks in Cairo with mediators on the return of the last hostage held in Gaza, which would complete an initial part of Trump’s plan.

Since the truce started, Hamas has returned all 20 living hostages and 27 bodies in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners.

Although fighting has diminished, Israel has continued to attack Gaza and demolish what it says is Hamas infrastructure. Hamas and Israel have traded blame for violations.

Palestinian local health authorities said on Saturday that Israeli fire killed five people in Beit Lahiya and Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday.

The Israeli military said that in two separate incidents on Saturday, forces deployed in northern Gaza behind the so-called yellow line of withdrawal agreed in the ceasefire had fired on Palestinian militants who crossed the line, killing three.