Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a man who was claimed as a member of an armed group, during a confrontation when troops entered a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank early Monday.
Near the northern city of Jenin is the village of Kafr Dan, where the two men were killed. The Israeli military entered Kafr Dan late Sunday to demolish the houses of two Palestinian gunmen who killed an Israeli soldier during a firefight in September. According to the military, troops were attacked by shooters and returned fire.
On Monday, the Israeli rights group B'Tselem said 2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinians since 2004, a period of intense violence associated with the Palestinian uprising.
Samer Houshiyeh, 21, and Fouad Abed, 25, were both killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. According to Samer Attiyeh, the director of Jenin's Ibn Sina Hospital, Houshiyeh was shot several times in the chest. Abed was initially described as 17 by Attiyeh, but the ministry later gave him the age of 25.
An armed group, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, later claimed Houshiyeh as a member. The group, an offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, published an older photo in which Houshiyeh posed with rifles. His mother and other mourners bid farewell via social media as his body was draped with the flag of the armed group.
The identity of the second Palestinian killed was not immediately clear.
The Israeli government says it demolishes militants' homes to deter potential attackers. Critics say the practice amounts to collective punishment.
Since a spate of Palestinian attacks on Israelis last spring, the Israeli military has conducted near-daily raids into Palestinian cities and towns.
B'Tselem's figures show that 150 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem last year, making 2022 the deadliest year since 2004. Nine more Israelis have been killed in a new wave of attacks this fall. According to the Israeli army, most of the Palestinians killed have been militants. Stone-throwers protesting the incursions and others who were not involved in confrontations have also been killed.
According to Israel, the raids are intended to dismantle militant networks and thwart attacks in the future. Palestinians, however, see them as a further entrenchment of the 55-year occupation of the West Bank.
In the 1967 Mideast war, Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinians want those territories for a future state.
.png)
.png)
0 Comments