Palestinians killed in clashes and auto ramming attack

Israeli security forces stand at the scene of an alleged attack at Halhul checkpoint near Hebron, West Bank, Friday, Dec. 11, 2015, after troops shot and killed a Palestinian man who attempted to ram his auto into Israeli security forces, military said.

The violence spread to the Gaza Strip, controlled by Islamist group Hamas, where Palestinians massed at the fenced-off border with Israel on Friday, throwing rocks at troops beyond.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said Oday Ersheid, 22, was killed by live fire in Hebron.

The West Bank victim was identified as 22-year-old Jihad Ersheid, who was reportedly shot in the chest with live ammunition during clashes in Hebron. At least 112 Palestinians have died by Israeli fire; while the others died in clashes with security forces, 75 of them said by Israel to be attackers.

Family refuted the Israeli claims saying that their daughter had crossed two Israeli checkpoints before she was killed, which means that she would have been caught if she acquired a knife.

A Palestinian man was shot and killed during clashes in the Ras al-Jura area of Hebron on Friday, witnesses told Ma’an.

The health ministry said that the Palestinian death toll climbed to 121 since the outbreak of the current wave of violent tension between Israel and the Palestinians in the Palestinian territories early October.

Hours earlier, shots were fired at the West Bank’s Gilboa checkpoint Friday morning.

“No casualties or damage have been reported to the crossing or its operators”.

Islamic State will assume the moral leadership of the Arab world if Israel does not stop crushing Palestinians’ hopes of statehood, a senior PLO official warned on Friday.

Since mid-September, Palestinians have killed 19 Israelis.

“If (Israel) wants to make us suffer by stealing and keeping the bodies of the martyrs, we will make it suffer by being patient and resilient”, he told AFP. Army gunfire killed a 38-year-old Palestinian and wounded 58 others, Gaza medics said.

Three Palestinians were shot during the clashes, one resident said.

The army did not immediately respond to Tarawa’s account.

One of its leaders, Mushir al-Masri, called for “resistance until the complete liberation of Palestine”.