Three Israeli Soldiers Shot by Palestinian Security Operative

A Palestinian Authority police officer opened fire on Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, wounding three, before being shot dead by a soldier.

Protests against Israel’s ongoing occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip have become increasingly violent in recent months.

A large number of Palestinians, aid workers and diplomats commute to Ramallah for work or other reasons on a daily basis.

In the piece entitled, “Don’t Shoot the Messenger, Israel”, Ban reiterates many of his earlier comments to Security Council Tuesday, calling Israeli settlement activity “an affront to the Palestinian people”, adding that “it is human nature to resist occupation”.

“Palestinians – especially young people – are losing hope over what seems a harsh, humiliating and endless occupation”, he said in the editorial posted on the website late Sunday.

The UN chief also noted with concern that the Israeli government had recently approved 150 new homes in the occupied West Bank and approximately 150 hectares of land in the fertile Jordan Valley were declared “state land”, a status that typically leads to exclusive Israeli settler use.

The Israeli military has since partially closed Ramallah, sealing off roads out of the city and citing “situation assessments”.

“Every time someone has a gun and goes to shoot the Israeli army?” Neither the [Palestinian] president is harmed or anyone else.

Meanwhile, senior Hamas leader Kahlil al-Hayya, told the rally that the tunnel, where the seven fighters died into last week, is the same tunnel that during 2014 Israeli war on Gaza, Hamas arrested the Israeli soldier Shaul Oran.

Violence since October has killed 25 Israelis, as well as an American and an Eritrean, according to an AFP count.

The assailants who have been killed have either been shot dead by their victims, or security forces as they carried out attacks.

The military says the Palestinian was attempting to cross the West Bank separation barrier when forces approached him. The wounded were evacuated to hospitals in Jerusalem for medical treatment.

At least 151 Palestinians have been killed by Israel fire since violence broke out in mid-September.