Dec 21, 2018

The Israeli army said Friday it had opened a probe after troops shot dead the passenger of a car that tried to break through two checkpoints in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian health ministry said 17-year-old Qassem al-Abbasi, from east Jerusalem, was shot dead by Israeli troops on Thursday near the city of Ramallah.

"The military police have opened an investigation into the death of the passenger," an army spokeswoman told AFP, without giving any more details on the deceased.

Soldiers fired warning shots into the air after the vehicle failed to stop a roadblock, she said.

When the vehicle tried to break though a second roadblock nearby, soldiers again fired into the air "before aiming at the car, killing one of the occupants and injuring another passenger", the spokeswoman said.