Clashes erupt during Israeli army raid, 2 attackers killed

The Israeli military says troops shot and killed a Palestinian assailant after he rammed his vehicle into a group of Israelis in the West Bank.

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

One of the soldiers is reportedly in serious condition.

Clashes erupted in Qalandiya after the Israeli raid on the camp in the occupied West Bank, witnesses said.

She pointed out that in the H2 area of Hebron alone, 16 of the 17 Palestinians allegedly involved in attacks against Israelis since October 1 were shot dead, while one had been injured and arrested.

Palestinians aged 18 to 22, a demographic dubbed the “Oslo generation” because they were born after the 1993 Oslo Accords, are the most supportive of an armed intifada and stabbings and the least supportive of the two-state solution.

On Tuesday, the United Nations human rights office in NY voiced deep concern over an “unacceptable” wave of Palestinians attacking Israelis, but also criticised Israeli authorities’ reported “excessive use of force” in response to the attacks.

Israeli leaders have accused Abbas and other Palestinian leaders of inciting the violence with incendiary rhetoric. Another five Palestinians, including two Hamas members, were arrested in al-Khalil (Hebron), situated 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of al-Quds. Period. Why does he not recognize the difference between Palestinian terrorism, which intends to injure and murder Israelis, and Israeli self-defense?

Video footage of the incident shows an Israeli security guard shooting the girls several times after they had both fallen to the ground.

Israel says the violence is fanned by a Palestinian campaign of lies and incitement.

The housing plan was approved years ago but delayed due to American pressure on Israel to rein in settlement construction, according to municipal committee member Hanan Rubin.

In his annual pre-Christmas address Wednesday, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, called for calm.