Israeli soldiers kill two more Palestinians in West Bank

Israeli military forces have shot and killed two more young Palestinian men and injured four others during separate incidents in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israeli military jeeps rolled into the Qalandiya refugee camp, north of al-Quds (Jerusalem), early on Wednesday, Arabic-language Ma’an news agency reported. They broke into dozens of homes and violently searched them. The soldiers caused excessive property damage before detaining 26-year-old Mahmoud Nayef Abu Latifa and beating him severely.

Israeli military forces proceeded to loot a number of shops in the camp, destroying the medical equipment at a local laboratory.

Violence broke out when a group of Palestinian youths clashed with the Israeli forces. A young Palestinian man, identified as Ahmad Jahajha, used his car to run over the Israeli soldiers, leaving three of them injured. One of the soldiers is reportedly in serious condition.

The attempted car-ramming attack prompted Israeli troopers to open fire on the 21-year-old Palestinian at close range. Jahajha was critically injured and later succumbed to his gunshot wounds.

Shortly afterwards, another Palestinian man, identified as Hekmat Hamdan, sought to ram his car into Israeli soldiers in another part of the Qalandiya refugee camp, but was fatally shot.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces arrested at least a dozen Palestinians during separate raids on a number of houses across the occupied West Bank.

Seven Palestinians were detained in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, located 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of al-Quds. Five of those arrested were members of Islamic resistance movement Hamas. Another five Palestinians, including two Hamas members, were arrested in al-Khalil (Hebron), situated 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of al-Quds.

Supporting attacks

Meanwhile, a recent survey has disclosed that a great proportion of Palestinians support the recent string of stabbing attacks against illegal settlers and Israeli soldiers.

The poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Research (PCPR), showed that 67 percent of Palestinians view the use of knife in the face of escalating tensions in the occupied lands as appropriate, while 31 percent oppose the practice.

The remaining two percent of the respondents had no opinion.

Tensions in the occupied territories have dramatically escalated since the Israeli regime’s imposition of restrictions in August on the entry of Palestinian worshipers to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds.

Palestinians are also angry at increasing violence by Israeli settlers at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and their attacks on Palestinian properties, saying that the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status quo of the compound.

More than 120 Palestinians have been killed in the recent escalation of violence since the start of October.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk