ShareRAMALLAH: Three Palestinians were killed Thursday by Zionist forces during two separate raids in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said. On Thursday in El-Bireh, near the seat of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, two Palestinians, Ayham al-Shafei, 14 and Yazan Shiha, 24, were killed and two others wounded when Zionist troops opened fire during a raid, the Palestinian health ministry said.
A 19-year-old Palestinian, Qusai Quran, was killed by Zionist forces during a raid on Qalqilya in the northern West Bank, according to the ministry, reporting two others were wounded. The Zionist army did not immediately comment on the incidents.
Also on Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry reported the death of 14-year-old Hamdan Hamdan of wounds sustained Monday by Zionist fire in a village near Nablus. For several months, the West Bank has seen increasing Zionist army raids and attacks on Palestinians by Zionist settlers.
Alongside their attacks in Gaza, the Zionist entity has been continuously conducting a series of raids and detentions targeting Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since Oct 7. Zionist forces persist in their violations in the West Bank, Jerusalem and its surroundings, including killing, arrests, damage to Palestinian properties, and infrastructure in the region. These violations have intensified in recent times.
The military increased their raids against Palestinians in all cities of the occupied West Bank, especially Tulkarem and Jenin, and destroyed Palestinian buildings in the Nour Shams and Jenin refugee camps, causing great damage to vehicles and property.
According to the Palestinian ministry, Zionist forces and settlers have killed around 130 Palestinians in the West Bank since Oct 7. During this period, 13 Palestinians in Jerusalem and its suburbs, 24 in Tulkarem in the West Bank, 21 in Jenin, 21 in Nablus, 18 in Ramallah, 15 in Hebron, 5 in Jericho, 6 in Qalqilya, 5 in Tubas, 4 in Bethlehem and 1 in Al-Birah lost their lives in Zionist attacks. In the same period around 1,900 have been arrested by Zionist security forces, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group.
Settler attack
Elsewhere, a Zionist has died after his car came under fire near the settlement of Einav, according to first responders from the Zionist Magen David Adom emergency response organization. Zionist officials have not identified the fatality.
The army said in a statement it “has set up roadblocks in the area and is hunting down the terrorists” behind the alleged shooting near the Palestinian city of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank. After the Zionist man’s death, dozens of settlers stormed the Palestinian village of Dayr Sharaf, located about seven kilometers (four miles) from the Einav settlement, an AFP correspondent said. The correspondent saw the Zionist settlers setting Palestinian businesses and fields ablaze and smashing empty cars. Most states and international bodies recognize that Zionist settlements are illegal under international law.
‘Severe abuse’
Some media and rights organizations have said videos circulating on social media show Zionist soldiers filming the abuse and humiliation of detained Palestinians. In a statement this week, Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said it “has documented severe abuse and torture against Palestinian civilians and detainees at the hands of the (Zionist) army”.
The NGO said Palestinians near Hebron in the south of the West Bank had been “dragged and assaulted by (Zionist) soldiers”. “The Palestinian civilians in the footage have been stripped of their clothes, have their hands and feet tied, and appear to have been left outdoors for hours at a time,” the statement said.
The United States warned on Wednesday that violence by settlers in the West Bank was “incredibly destabilizing”. A State Department spokesman called settler violence “counterproductive to (the Zionist entity’s) long-term security” and said Washington had been clear with the Zionist authorities that it “needs to stop”.
On Wednesday, Zionist army bulldozers demolished 17 historic homes in the southern occupied West Bank. Hassan Brijiyeh, Director of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee in the city of Bethlehem, said the Zionist army and settlers “demolished 17 houses in the village of Shushahla, near Bethlehem” pointing out that the houses “are built of old stone, and are at least 200 years old.”
Shushahla, a small village located near the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, between Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron, is inhabited by a few Palestinian families, most of whom had been displaced during the past years, as a result of settler attacks. — Agencies
