Global Courant 2023-05-06 14:30:43
The Israeli army claims the men were involved in a shooting that injured an Israeli civilian earlier this week.
Israeli soldiers have shot dead two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in the latest violence that has escalated tensions in the region.
The army said it raided on Saturday to arrest individuals suspected of carrying out a shooting spree against Israelis earlier this week.
“Two martyrs, shot by the occupation (Israeli forces), arrived at the government hospital of Thabet Thabet,” the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement following the raid on the Nur Shams refugee camp near the city of Tulkarem.
Both men were 22 years old and died of gunshot wounds to their chest, neck and abdomen, it added.
The Israeli army said the men were involved in a “shooting attack” in Avnei Heftz on Tuesday that injured an Israeli civilian. Avnei Heftz is a settlement in the occupied West Bank deemed illegal under international law.
“The two gunmen were shot and killed after they tried to flee the scene,” an army statement said, adding that two others were arrested. “Two M-16 rifles, military vests and (ammunition) magazines” were seized during the raid, it said.
Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and has a strong presence in the occupied West Bank, said the men were members of one of the group’s affiliates. According to the statement, the men had engaged in an armed struggle against the Israeli army.
A boy looks at bloodstains after an Israeli raid on the Nur Shams refugee camp near the town of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank (Majdi Mohammed/AP)
Videos circulating on social media purportedly showed the lifeless bodies of the two Palestinians lying on a tin roof as what appeared to be Israeli troops searched them. At one point, one of the soldiers attempted to flip a body while partially removing the dead man’s jeans.
Palestinian media, citing witnesses, said soldiers left after making sure the two were dead.
Israel has been conducting near-night raids on occupied villages and towns in the West Bank for more than a year.
Saturday’s death toll brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces to 111 since early 2023. About 50 people have been killed in attacks on Israelis.
The incursion followed an exchange of cross-border attacks between Israel and Gaza earlier this week, after violence intensified with repeated Israeli incursions into the occupied West Bank and attacks by Palestinians against Israelis.
Palestinians see the violent incursions as further entrenchment of Israel’s 56-year unrestricted occupation of land they seek for a future independent state.
Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan died Tuesday on the 87th day of a hunger strike against his repeated arbitrary detention by Israel.
The death of Adnan, who was arrested on March 5 and awaiting military trial, sparked widespread anger and protests in the occupied West Bank and led to rocket attacks against Israel by armed groups in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Palestinians carry the body of Hamza Kharyoush in the Nur Shams refugee camp near the town of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank (Majdi Mohammed/AP)
