4 Palestinians, 2 Israelis killed in West Bank as tension flares up

Four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed overnight and on Thursday in a new wave of violence that flared up between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank.

On Thursday evening, the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Health said in an emailed press statement that Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian young man north of the West Bank city of Ramallah.

It said that the Palestinian Civil Liaison Office informed the ministry that a Palestinian, whose identity wasn't known, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers at the northern entrance to al-Beereh town close to Ramallah.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that Israeli forces prevented its medical crew and ambulances from reaching the place where the young man was shot.

However, an Israeli army spokesman said in a press statement that a Palestinian driver rammed his car into a group of Israeli soldiers in the area and lightly wounded one of them, adding that other soldiers opened fire and killed him.

Earlier Thursday, two Israeli soldiers were killed and two others injured in a shooting attack carried out by unknown gunmen near Ramallah, according to the spokesman, adding that the assailants managed to run away.

Two Islamic Hamas movement militants were killed overnight and Thursday in Israeli raids as they were accused of carrying out two separate shooting attacks against Israeli settlers in October and last week.

On Thursday morning, a Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli police in East Jerusalem after attacking two Israeli police officers in the Old City, reported Palestinian media and the Israel Radio.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority condemned the recent escalation in the West Bank after the killing of three Palestinians by Israel.

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), denounced in a statement Israel for carrying out "three field executions" of the Palestinians in the West Bank, adding that "this is a clear collective punishment and a clear Israeli terror."

"The message to the whole world is that Israel is a state that lives above the law and this is a real provocation to the Palestinian people because their life and their properties are all the time threatened," she said.

Nabil Shaath, an aide on foreign affairs to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a statement that "the recent Israeli escalation against the Palestinians in the West Bank is a criminal escalation and a violation to all agreements."

The senior Palestinian official accused Israel of undermining any effort to resume the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has been stalled since 2014, adding "Israel is using the United States biased position that supports its actions."