RAMALLAH (West Bank) A Palestinian Health Ministry claims that an Israeli soldier killed a Palestinian civilian Saturday night during clashes in the occupied West Bank.The military also stated that Israeli aircraft attacked militant sites in Gaza Strip on Saturday night in response to incendiary bombs Palestinians had launched from the territory, striking Israeli farmland across border. According to local media, a Palestinian man was severely injured in the airstrikes.According to the ministry, the victim was identified as Mohammad Fareed Hassan (20 years old), from Qusra village close to Nablus.Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency reported that Hassan had been shot in the chest during a confrontation between residents and settlers who stormed the village. According to the report, Israeli troops were present with the settlers.Weekly protests by Palestinians have been held against the expansion Israeli settlements in several West Bank locations.The West Bank was captured by Israel in 1967's Mideast war.Nearly half a million Israelis reside in over 130 settlements authorized and many outposts throughout the occupied West Bank.Many members of the international community and the Palestinians view settlements as violations of international law and obstacles to peace.The Israeli military claimed that the strikes in Gaza targeted a weapons production site and a rocket launcher belonging Hamas, the terrorist group controlling the Palestinian enclave. Israel and Hamas have fought four bloody wars since Islamic militant group took control of Gaza in 2007. The last one lasted 11 days.Hamas-linked activists are using incendiary balloons as a pressure tactic to get Israel to ease its blockade of the territory. Hamas claims that Israel has reversed its previous unofficial agreements to allow Qatari cash assistance into Gaza's impoverished Gaza, and has restored restrictions at Gaza's commercial crossings.The fragile cease-fire has been bolstered by mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and the United Nations.
