Israeli forces killed 178 Palestinians in 2015: Health Ministry

Israeli forces killed at least 178 Palestinians and injured 16,200 others in 2015, the Palestinian Health Ministry says.

According to a report released by the ministry on Wednesday, at least 145 of the killings happened during the recent wave of tensions triggered by Israel’s imposition of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in August.

Based on figures released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), last year, the homes of some 539 Palestinians were demolished by the Israeli regime while a further 742 were forced to abandon their homes.

Israeli forces also detained more than 6,830 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds, said a report released the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society. At least 2,179 of those arrested were minors aged between 11 and 18.

The Israeli imposed restrictions have enraged Palestinians, who are also angry at increasing violence by Israeli settlers frequently storming the al-Aqsa Mosque. They say the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status quo of the compound.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank including East al-Quds in 1967.

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