Israeli shoots Palestinian dead in West Bank

An Israeli shot dead a Palestinian who had been throwing stones at his car north of Jerusalem in the West Bank, a Palestinian security source told AFP late Monday.
The security source named the fatality as Mahmud Shawamreh, 21. He said the incident took place between Ar-Ram and the Hizma checkpoint, and the body was taken to Israel.
Asked for comment, a spokeswoman for the Israeli army said: "The incident in which the Palestinian was killed during a violent riot near Ramallah is being investigated by the military police."
In a number of east Jerusalem neighbourhoods, Palestinians were throwing stones and firebombs at police, who attempted to disperse them, a spokeswoman said.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, an Israeli was seriously wounded after a Palestinian opened fire at him from a travelling car, the army said.
The army was searching the area of Rehelim junction, south of Nablus, for the perpetrator, it said in a statement.
Tensions in the West Bank had been running high since the abduction and murder of three Israeli youths there last month, which prompted a major crackdown on Islamist movement Hamas, blamed by Israel for the deed.
Hamas responded with a surge of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Israel responded by launching a major offensive on July 8, resulting so far in the deaths of over 570 Palestinians and 27 Israelis.
On July 2, Mohammed Abu Khder, 16, was kidnapped from east Jerusalem and burned to death by three Jewish extremists currently standing trial, in a suspected revenge attack for the abduction and killing of the three Israeli teenagers.
Abu Khder's gruesome murder triggered riots in east Jerusalem, which spread to Arab Israeli towns and cities in northern Israel.
Source: AFP