Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man as violence erupted during an arrest operation in the West Bank today, the military said.
It said Palestinians in the refugee camp of Qalandiya, north of Jerusalem, threw explosive charges and opened fire at soldiers during the operation and that they responded with fire of their own, killing one man, and wounding another. Palestinian medical officials identified the dead man as 20-year-old Mahmoud Abdalla.
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have been high in recent months, mostly over a disputed holy site in Jerusalem, though the West Bank has been somewhat calmer. Israeli security officials ascribe the relative lull to attempts by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to keep the lid on violence as he pushes for a UN resolution on Israeli occupation.
Some Palestinian officials have suggested that Abbas will push for the vote on a draft resolution as early as this week that would set a November 2016 deadline for ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
The Palestinian resolution which is almost sure to be vetoed by the United States has prompted a diplomatic push by France that still hasn't been formally introduced.
The French draft speaks of the 1967 Mideast borders as the basis for dividing the land, which President Barack Obama has publicly backed, but it doesn't include key Israeli and US conditions, such as Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
In another development today, Israeli police say they arrested 10 members of a Jewish extremist group following an intensive undercover investigation into its activities.
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the early morning arrest operation was directed at members of the Lehava group. She said the Lehava activists were being held on suspicion of incitement to violent acts on a racist background.
Israeli media said one of those arrested was Lehava leader Benzi Gopstein. Lehava opposes Jewish assimilation and Arab-Israeli coexistence.
Police arrested another three of its members yesterday on suspicion of setting fire to a bilingual school in Jerusalem last month where both Jews and Arabs study.
