Israel signaled opposition on Wednesday to US calls to review rules of engagement in the occupied West Bank as it pressed on with a near-daily series of operations against militants in the area in which dozens of Palestinians have been killed.
"The IDF's Chief of the General Staff, and he alone, determines, and will continue to determine the rules of engagement in accordance with our operational needs and values of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces)," Defense Minister Benny Gantz said.
The State Department said on Tuesday that Washington will press Israel to review its policies on rules of engagement after its military concluded that Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was likely shot by an Israeli soldier while covering an Israeli raid in the Palestinian militant stronghold city Jenin.
Israel has stepped up its incursions in the territory since a wave of deadly Palestinian street attacks in Israeli cities. In the latest such raid, on Wednesday, Israeli troops killed a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
As part of near-nightly security sweeps focused on the Iranian-backed faction, the army carried out arrests and searches in several locations.
The slain man, Younis Tayeh, 21, had left the family home in Fara'a camp near the city of Tubas to try to find his uncle after hearing that he had been detained, Tayeh's twin brother Hussein told Reuters.
"I asked him not to cross the street, as a soldier could be taking aim. As soon as he crossed the street he (a soldier) immediately shot him," Tayeh said. "I tried to reach him but he (the soldier) aimed two bullets at me, so I couldn't go out."
The army said in a statement that an improvised explosive device was thrown and shots were fired at soldiers, who returned fire.
Islamic Jihad claimed Tayeh as a member and said he had died "during clashes". The statement did not elaborate. Tayeh's family denied he had taken part in clashes.
The West Bank, among territories Palestinians hope will form part of an eventual independent state, has seen waves of violence involving Palestinians and Israel's army and settlers since US-sponsored talks with Israel broke down in 2014.
The diplomatic stagnation has contributed to the sapping of the credibility of the US-backed Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule and security control in the West Bank.
"We demand that the Palestinian Authority not only speak out against terrorism, but also act against it. The spread of weapons and lack of governance are harming both the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority itself," Gantz said
There was no immediate response from the PA, which casts Israel's actions as designed to weaken it.
