Israeli forces kill two Palestinian youths

Relatives of one of the four Palestinians who were shot dead by Israeli troops on Thursday mourn during his funeral in the occupied West Bank village of Sa’ir, near al-Khalil (Hebron) on January 9, 2016.

Speaking by telephone, an Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that both suspects were killed near the Jewish-only settlement of Bekaot, adding: “Israeli forces thwarted the attack and shot them”.

It was the latest in a series of attacks over the past three months that include stabbings, gunfire and auto rammings by Palestinians targeting Israeli forces.

The Israeli army alleged the men had tried to stab soldiers manning the checkpoint, but witnesses said they did not see the pair wielding knives.

Also stoking the violence has been Muslim opposition to increased Israeli visits to Jerusalem’s al Aqsa mosque complex, which is the third holiest site in Islam and is also revered in Judaism as the location of two biblical temples.

The fatal shootings occurred near the Baghut settlement near the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank.

“The American Historical Association has just spend a spent a serious amount of time discussing the Israeli government’s violation of Palestinians’ right to education”. Authorities have so far said his motives were unclear. Israel often retains the bodies of Palestinians killed during attacks, a measure that has drawn criticism from rights groups as well as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Many of the Palestinian attackers in recent violence have come from Hebron.

Police said Melhem, 29, was the gunman who killed two Israelis at a bar, then the Israeli Arab driver of a taxi who picked him up after the attack.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces demolished on Saturday the home of a Palestinian young man, Mohanad Halabi, in Surda, a town near Ramallah.

The Palestinian Wafa news agency named those killed as Ali Muhammad Aqqab Abu-Maryam and Said Judah Abu-al-Wafa and said they had been shot “in cold blood”.