News / Palestine

Israeli forces kill two Palestinians

Friday, 01 July 2016 8:09 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 01 July 2016 10:15 AM ]

Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron), June 24, 2016 (photo by AFP)

Israeli forces have killed two Palestinians in two separate incidents in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The first fatality was caused near the revered Muslim religious monument of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of al-Khalil (Hebron) on Friday. The victim has been identified as Sareh al-Hajouj.

Israeli police alleged that the victim had tried to carry out a stabbing attack against the forces. They, however, added that no forces had been wounded in the purported attempt.

Al-Khalil houses 200,000 Palestinians as opposed to hundreds of Israeli settlers. Tel Aviv has dotted the city with security posts and enforces a heavy surveillance regime over it to guard the settlers.

The female was the third Palestinian to be fatally shot by Israeli forces over the past two days. The victims include a Palestinian teenager, which Israelis killed on Thursday, claiming that he stabbed a 13-year-old resident of an illegal Israeli settlement. The teenage girl later succumbed to her injuries while another settler was wounded.

More than 220 Palestinians have been killed since October, 2015, when Israelis began a crackdown on them in the West Bank and in the occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem).

In August that year, Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in al-Quds, heightening concerns about Israeli plans to change the status quo of the compound. Palestinians are also angry at increasing violence by Israeli settlers and their attacks on Palestinian properties.

Also on Friday, a Palestinian was killed after inhaling Israeli teargas during clashes with Israeli forces at the Qalandia checkpoint between al-Quds and the city of Ramallah.

The clashes, which broke out as the Palestinians were heading to hold the last Friday prayers of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, also injured 40 other Palestinians and one Israeli soldier.

The checkpoint is the only one frequented by the Palestinians who seek to cross the Gaza Strip and West Bank into al-Quds. Palestinian sources said the clashes erupted after Israeli forces attacked the Palestinians with batons and teargas canisters, trying to speed up the traffic at the checkpoint.

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