West Bank clashes kill 1 person, lead to arrests

Israeli soldiers stand at the scene of an attack near the settlement of Givat Assaf in the West Bank, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. A Palestinian gunman opened fire at a bus stop outside a West Bank settlement on Thursday, shooting at soldiers and civilians and killing at least two Israelis before fleeing, the military and Israel's rescue service said. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)
Israeli soldiers stand at the scene of an attack near the settlement of Givat Assaf in the West Bank, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. A Palestinian gunman opened fire at a bus stop outside a West Bank settlement on Thursday, shooting at soldiers and civilians and killing at least two Israelis before fleeing, the military and Israel's rescue service said. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Israel arrested dozens of Hamas activists in the West Bank, and a Palestinian was killed in clashes with troops, as the Israeli military pressed ahead on Friday with a crackdown after a pair of deadly shootings blamed on Hamas militants.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said that Mahmoud Nakhla, 18, was shot in the abdomen and died at a medical center in Ramallah, as Israeli soldiers clashed with dozens of Palestinians throwing rocks.

Earlier Friday, Israeli forces arrested dozens of Hamas activists in the West Bank as the army intensified a crackdown a day after Palestinian assailants killed two soldiers in an attack on a bus stop.

In a fresh wave of violence, an Israeli soldier was severely wounded by a Palestinian assailant who attacked him with a rock, while Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinian demonstrators outside Ramallah, the military said.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, Jewish settlers beat up a Palestinian bus driver, the man's family said, while Palestinian Authority forces violently broke up a demonstration by supporters of the rival Hamas movement.

Friday's unrest came a day after a Palestinian gunman opened fire at a West Bank bus stop, killing two soldiers before speeding away in a vehicle. Israel responded by setting up checkpoints, closing roads and beefing up security in a broad manhunt for the assailant. Earlier in the week, another Palestinian gunman carried out a similar drive-by shooting outside a nearby settlement, wounding seven people, including a pregnant woman whose baby later died after being delivered prematurely.

A Hamas official said some 100 members of the group, including lawmakers and other senior figures, were arrested this week, including 70 arrested overnight and throughout the day Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing arrest by Israel. The Israeli military confirmed the overnight arrests.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement and the Islamic Hamas are fierce rivals. Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas' forces in 2007 after winning legislative elections the previous year, and attempts to reconcile have repeatedly failed.

Friday's unrest capped a deadly week that claimed seven lives, including the Israeli newborn, a 60-year-old Palestinian businessman and three Palestinian assailants, two of them members of the Islamic militant Hamas group.

Information for this article was contributed by Fares Akram of The Associated Press.

A Section on 12/15/2018

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