Two Palestinians Reportedly Killed in Clashes in West Bank, Gaza

On Friday hundreds of Palestinians were injured by the Israeli occupation army during confrontations across the occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Friday’s killings bring the total number of Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces since October 1 to 121, including 25 minors and five women.

On the same day, another Palestinian was shot and injured by Israeli soldiers after he allegedly opened fire at the troops at the Gilboa crossing near Jenin.

Near Hebron, a large West Bank city where anti-Israel hostility is strong, a Palestinian motorist tried to ram troops who then shot him dead, the army spokesman’s office said.

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.

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.

Oddai is the oldest brother of Dania Arsheed who was killed a few weeks ago near the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque under the pretext of an alleged stabbing attack. The man was identified by the Palestinian Ministry of Health as Issa Hroub, 55, from the nearby village of Deir Samet.

“In order to disperse the crowd, (forces fired) 0.22 calibre rounds towards the main instigators and warning shots into the air”.

According to the Israeli defence ministry, a Palestinian man opened fire at soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint before he was wounded and fled the scene. Fortunately, there were no reports of casualties.

The Israeli army said the 22-year-old died during a riot in which hundreds of Palestinians attacked forces by hurling stones and firebombs and rolling burning tyres toward troops.

The bloodshed is the latest in nearly three months of clashes between Israeli and Palestinian forces.

Israel has withheld the corpses of many attackers, a policy authorities say acts as a deterrent but critics argue leads to more anger.

On Friday, protesters in Silwad northeast of Ramallah called for Israel to return the bodies. In some previous car-ramming attacks, the driver then emerged to try to stab Israelis. She said Israeli forces were searching for the suspect who fled in a van.

“If we go down as Palestinian moderates, if we can not deliver, mark my words, this will be the scenario”, he said.

Such raids in the West Bank city, which is home to the Palestinian Authority, are relatively rare.