Israeli army jeep hits, kills Palestinian in West Bank

Reuters/West Bank

An Israeli army jeep struck and killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, with the military and locals giving conflicting accounts of the circumstances.

A military spokeswoman said the jeep, which was in Qafr Malik village as part of an operation to arrest suspected militants, accidentally hit the Palestinian after he threw a petrol bomb at it.

"The driver was startled and swerved, hitting the man," she said, adding that a military investigation would be launched.

Abdallah Ghanayem, 21, died after being struck by the vehicle during clashes that erupted in the village of Kfar Malik following a dawn Israeli army raid, the sources said.

Local resident Nail Abdul Latah el Hajj denied the Palestinian had attacked the jeep, however, saying the man was walking to work at a chicken farm when he was run down on the main street and then crushed as the vehicle crashed into a wall and overturned.

Speaking to Reuters, el Hajj said the man's death sparked confrontations between stone-throwing Palestinian youths and Israeli troops. The military spokeswoman said the disturbances were already under way when the collision happened.