JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli forces on Friday following the funeral of a Palestinian man killed by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank the previous day.
Footage from The Associated Press shows dozens of protesters in the town of Beit Ummar hurling rocks and stones at Israeli soldiers, and soldiers firing at protesters.
The Israeli military said it fired in response to protesters who threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at Israeli troops. The Palestinian Red Crescent medical service said two people were wounded from live Israeli fire.
On Thursday, 20-year-old Shaukat Awad was fatally shot by Israeli forces during clashes that erupted after the funeral of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy who was killed the day before. The Israeli military said it launched an investigation into the shooting of the boy, who was hit while traveling with his father in a car on Wednesday.
Clashes also took place Friday near Beita — a town in the northern West Bank where Palestinians hold regular protests against an unauthorized Israeli settlement outpost they say was built on their land.
The Red Crescent said five people were wounded from Israeli fire near Beita; more than 20 others were hit by rubber bullets. The Israeli army said it fired toward protesters who hurled rocks and rolled burning tires at Israeli troops.
Under a deal in June between the Israeli government and the settlers of the Eviatar outpost, the settlers left the area, but the settlement’s buildings remain intact and under army guard.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war. The Palestinians seek the area as the heartland of their future independent state. Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal and obstacles to peace.
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