Israeli military forces have shot and killed a young Palestinian man as they raided the northern part of the West Bank amid escalating tensions in the occupied territories in recent weeks, local sources and medical officials said.
Medical officials identified the Palestinian man as 23-year-old Mohammad Maher Marei.
They said Marei, a resident of Jenin refugee camp, succumbed to critical wounds he sustained during confrontations with Israeli forces as the latter stormed the eastern neighborhood of Jenin on Wednesday morning.
تغطية صحفية: "لحظة نقل الشــــهـــيد محمد مرعي إلى المستشفى بعد إصابته برصاص قوات الاحتلال خلال اقتحامها الحي الشرقي في جنين فجر اليوم". pic.twitter.com/q8AmXndtrm
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) June 29, 2022
Local sources added that another young Palestinian man, whose identity was not immediately available, was also wounded during the scuffles.
Israeli forces also arrested two young Palestinian men, identified as Yahya Yousef al-Jafar and Ahmed Asaad Nabhan, after raiding the homes of their relatives at al-Marah neighborhood in the eastern part of Jenin.
تغطية صحفية: "والدة الـــشـــهـــيــــد محمد ماهر مرعي من مخيم جنين تلقي نظرة الوداع عليه، علماً أنه ابن خالة الشهيدين مجد وبراء لحلوح". pic.twitter.com/sU3VlcEGdm
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) June 29, 2022
The Palestinian Shehab news agency reported that hundreds of Palestinians marched through the neighborhoods of Jenin and its refugee camp after the raid, carrying the body of the slain man, chanting anti-Israel slogans, condemning the crimes of the occupying Tel Aviv regime and recurrent acts of aggression against Jenin.
They also called for undaunted resistance until full liberation of all Palestinian territories.
Israeli forces arrest Palestinian man over alleged stabbing attempt in al-Quds
Meanwhile, Israeli military forces have arrested a young man in the occupied Old City of al-Quds over an alleged stabbing attempt against the regime's officers.
Police closed off the entrances to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and other areas of the Old City immediately after the unnamed suspect, a resident of the central West Bank city of Bethlehem in his 20s, fled after he purportedly attempted to stab police guarding one of the gates on Tuesday night.
According to the Israeli police, no officers were hurt in the alleged attack.
📹 متابعة صفا| قوات الاحتلال تعتقل فلسطيني من داخل باحات المسجد الأقصى بزعم محاولة طعن جندي إسرائيلي pic.twitter.com/Efasvdz7cA
— وكالة صفا (@SafaPs) June 28, 2022
Video footage showed officers taking the young Palestinian man for further questioning following his arrest near the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
A knife allegedly used in the attack was also found in the area, the Israeli police asserted.
Palestinian media outlets reported that Israeli officers fired into the air during the alleged attack.
تغطية صحفية: "استنفار قوات الاحـــتلال في محيط باب المجلس في البلدة القديمة بالقدس". pic.twitter.com/ec5aQmcdSJ
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) June 28, 2022
The purported attack comes as Israeli police have arrested a second settler involved in the killing of a young Palestinian man in the northern West Bank, according to her lawyers.
The settler, a woman who resides in the illegal settlement of Ariel, was detained on Sunday afternoon.
Ali Hassan Harb, 27, was stabbed in the heart during a confrontation between settlers and Palestinians on the outskirts of his hometown of Iskaka last Tuesday.
Local sources said that the altercation erupted after Israeli settlers attempted to take over a plot of Palestinian village land by setting up a tent on private property. The settlers had apparently come to examine the land to build a new illegal outpost in the area.
The al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Jewish visitation of al-Aqsa is permitted, but according to an agreement signed between Israel and the Jordanian government following the regime’s occupation of East al-Quds in 1967, non-Muslim worship at the compound remains strictly prohibited.
In May last year, recurrent acts of violence against Palestinian worshipers at al-Aqsa Mosque led to an 11-day war between the Israeli regime and Palestinian resistance groups in the besieged Gaza Strip, during which the at least 260 Palestinians, including 66 children, were killed.