JERUSALEM, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- An unarmed Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint east of Nablus in the West Bank Sunday morning, the army said.
The Palestinian man was carrying a broken glass bottle when he was shot, Ynetnews.com said.
Soldiers manning the Bekaot checkpoint in the northern Jordan Valley fired warning shots in the air and called on the Palestinian to halt several times, before fatally shooting him, the Web site said.
The army said it was investigating the incident and whether the shooting was justified.
The Maan news agency identified the dead man as Mahmoud Muhammad Darajme, 21, of the village of Tubas, and quoted one Palestinian witness saying he was shot by soldiers as he raised his hands in the air.
Other witnesses said he approached the soldiers carrying a Coca-Cola can in his hand when he was shot, the Palestinian news agency said.
The incident occurred less than 24 hours after a Palestinian was arrested in Gush Etzion in the West Bank Saturday night after he threatened to stab two female soldiers, Israel Radio reported Sunday morning.
Late Saturday night the Israeli air force attacked several targets in northern and central Gaza in response to a mortar shell fired at the western Negev earlier in the evening. Palestinians said two people were injured in the airstrikes.
