Saturday Feb. 20, 2010 11:56 AM (EST+7)
|
|
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Israeli troops shot and wounded two Palestinians, one of them seriously, in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, a Palestinian doctor and a local official said.
The men, both in their 20s, were apparently shot by Israeli border guards in the Hebron area as they tried to enter Israel to seek work, said an official in Yatta, the village where both men live.
An Israeli military spokesman said soldiers had opened fire at a vehicle driven by Palestinians when it tried to run over a soldier at a checkpoint near a lot for confiscated vehicles.
A doctor who treated them said one of the men was shot in the head and was in serious condition. The other was wounded in the arm.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
Israel has sharply reduced the number of work permits for Palestinians after violence erupted nearly a decade ago. Many continue to seek ways to circumvent these restrictions.
Tension has risen in the territory, which was captured by Israel in 1967 and which Palestinians want as a state, with stalemate in U.S.-brokered peace talks which have not convened since Israel launched an offensive in Gaza in late 2008.
|