By Qais Abu Samra
NABLUS, Palestine (AA) – Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire on Thursday in the occupied West Bank, authorities said.
"The two young men were killed. Samer Khaled, 25, was killed by a bullet in the neck, and Yazan Afana, 26, was shot in the heart," the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement.
It also said "the number of martyrs in the West Bank (including Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip has risen to 140 since the beginning of the year."
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that Afana was killed in clashes that erupted between dozens of Palestinians and the Israeli army after it stormed the Umm Al-Sharayet neighborhood in the city of Al-Bireh where it searched a number of houses.
Khaled was killed in the Balata camp near Nablus after an Israeli army force stormed the city, according to eyewitnesses.
The Israeli army frequently carries out wide-ranging arrest campaigns across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians.
*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat