WEST BANK: Israeli police find a body of an Israeli man in the West Bank

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Reuters in a telephone interview that the man's body was found on Sunday (February 25) near his vehicle. It was unclear if the man had been killed by militants or whether he lived in the West Bank. The body had been found in an area near the Palestinian village of Beit Ummr, which is between the West Bank city of Hebron and Israeli settlement of Gush Etzion, Rosenfeld said. A Palestinian security source said they were investigating the incident and were trying to determine if the man had been killed by militants or if it was a criminal incident. In recent weeks, Israeli police have stepped up patrols in the West Bank after attempts had been made by militants to kidnap Israelis. It is unusual to find the bodies of Israelis in the occupied West Bank. Earlier this month an Israeli civilian truck driver was found dead in the West Bank, which Israeli police said was an accident. An Israeli was last killed by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in August, when a soldier was shot dead at a military checkpoint. Around 268,379 Jewish settlers and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank. ISRAELI MILITARY OPERATIONS

ITN Source | February 26, 2007

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