At least two Palestinians have lost their lives and more than a dozen others sustained injuries after Israeli forces opened fire at a group of Palestinian protesters in the northeastern part of the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Gazan Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said 20-year-old Abdul Qader Farhan was fatally shot as Israeli troopers fired live bullets to disperse the Palestinian protesters in the city of Beit Hanoun, Palestinian Arabic-language Safa news agency reported.
Qudra added that as many as 27 Palestinians were also wounded during clashes in other areas of the Gaza Strip. He added that 11 Palestinians were shot with live rounds, while another one was hit by rubber-coated steel bullets.
The senior Palestinian medical official added that 14 Palestinians also suffered excessive tear gas inhalation.
The new death in Gaza came hours after 37-year-old Shawqi Jabr Obeid succumbed to the gunshot wounds he had sustained during clashes with Israeli soldiers along the Gaza border last week.
This as Israeli forces also killed a 19-year old Palestinian, identified as Ehab Hanani, during clashes in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, local media reported.
Earlier in the day, Israeli forces fired shots at a Palestinian man near the illegal Kiryat Arba settlement in the occupied southern West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron), situate 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of al-Khalil (Jerusalem).
Locals said Israeli soldiers prevented the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) staff from reaching the area to treat the man, and the Palestinian died of his wounds at the scene.
Meanwhile, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has also called for resistance in the face of heightened Israeli military aggression against Palestinians.
The PLO also called upon officials within the Palestinian Authority to ignore calls for quelling Palestinian resistance.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Press TV website on Friday, Stephen Lendman, an author and radio host from Chicago, accused the Western media of misreporting and covering up the crimes being committed by the Tel Aviv regime against Palestinians.
“Conflict in occupied Palestine continues raging; what is going on is completely misreported in the Western media and in Israeli media,” Lendman said.
He said what is going on across the occupied Palestinian lands is “premeditated terror and naked aggression” by Israel. He also denounced the US’s support for and its silence on the Israeli crimes.
The fresh wave of tensions was triggered by the Israeli regime’s imposition in August of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Palestinians are also angry at increasing violence by illegal Israeli settlers, who frequently storm al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina. They say the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status quo of the compound.