Israeli forces have killed four Palestinians in the occupied territories of the West Bank, where tensions have been frequent for a month.
Tel Aviv military authorities say their soldiers were active this morning in the city area JeninWith the purpose of arrest two men suspected of being involved in ‘terrorist activities’. In the course of the operations, the Israeli military would have been “target by direct fire” and would have returned fire. As a result of the shooting, three men were left dead on the ground. Jihad islami, a minor armed faction believed to be close to Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah, claimed one of the victims as its affiliate and during the funeral her body was wrapped in the organisation’s flag.
According to what was stated by some witnesses heard by the agency Reuters, two of the men killed were known in the city as militiamenwhile the third would have been a unfortunate passerby.
The fourth victim today, a 15 year old boy, lost his life in the following hours near the city of Ramallah. The Israeli military claimed to have opened fire on a group that was throwing stones and bottles at passing cars and denied the account of a witness, who told the British agency that he had seen Israeli snipers shoot at cars in front of him and subsequently open fire even against the ambulance arrived for help. Three other youths were injured.
Conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has heightened this year, with Israel stepping up raids in the West Bank following a series of attacks on its cities in March and April. According to the Ministry of Health of the PNA, this year they have been more than 210 Palestinians killed. The count includes militants and civilians, as well as dead a Gaza during a brief conflict in August. Israeli authorities say that, in the same period, 23 civilians and eight security personnel were killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank.
