RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said.

“Samir Aouni Harbi Aslan, 41, was killed after he was wounded by a bullet of the Israeli occupation army that penetrated his chest during the aggression on Qalandia camp” for Palestinian refugees near Ramallah, the ministry said.

The Israeli army said it was checking the incident, but did not immediately provide any information.

Aslan is the third Palestinian to have been killed in the occupied West Bank in 24 hours, and the seventh since the start of the year.

Israeli forces kill two Palestinians

On Wednesday, an Israeli civilian shot dead a 19-year-old Palestinian following an attempted stabbing attack near a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Earlier that day, a militant from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, the armed wing of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’ Fatah movement, was killed during armed clashes with the Israeli army in Balata refugee camp in Nablus.

The swearing in last month of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, has sparked fears of a military escalation in the occupied West Bank which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War.

Last year was the deadliest in the occupied West Bank since United Nations records began in 2005, with more than 150 Palestinians killed, the world body said in December.