Two young Palestinians killed in separate incidents in West Bank

The trigger-happy regime forces killed a Palestinian teenager during a military raid on the Shuafat refugee camp in East al-Quds on Wednesday evening, according to local media reports, citing officials.

Palestinian Health Ministry said Salah Muhammad Ali, 16, was shot in the chest and eventually succumbed to his wounds at a local hospital. The Palestinian teenager was pronounced dead hours after the Israeli military forces raided the camp to raze down the family house of 22-year-old martyr Uday Tamimi, who was killed on October 19 last year after being accused of shooting at a checkpoint in which one Israeli soldier was killed.

The Israeli military raid on the Shuafat refugee camp on Wednesday sparked confrontations with unarmed local youth and armed clashes with Palestinian fighters, according to reports. Muhammad Hamadeh, the Gaza Strip-based Hamas resistance movement's spokesman in al-Quds, praised the “heroic resistance fighters for confronting occupation forces in Shuafat camp with bullets.”

Hamadeh noted in a statement that “the resistance front is moving steadily towards its ultimate goal.”

Earlier in the day, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank over an alleged stabbing attempt against a regime trooper amid heightened tensions in the occupied territories.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA identified the 20-year-old victim as Aref Abdel Nasser Lahlouh, a resident of the Jenin refugee camp.

The incident happened near the illegal settlement of Kedumim in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to reports, when Lahlouh was fired upon in front of his mother and brother, which left him profusely bleeding on the ground.

The Israeli military in a statement alleged that the slain Palestinian man "attempted to stab" an Israeli soldier near the Kedumim settlement.

The statement added that no regime soldier was hurt in the incident.

 
The latest killings bring the total number of Palestinians killed in Israeli fire so far in 2023 to 20, including five children.

Israeli forces regularly conduct raids on various cities of the occupied West Bank on the pretext of detaining what it calls “wanted” Palestinians.

The unwarranted raids usually lead to violent confrontations with residents.

Over the past months, Israel has ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested. The United Nations marked 2022 as the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in 16 years.

Israeli forces killed at least 171 Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied East al-Quds last year, including more than 30 children. At least 9,000 others were injured as well.

Earlier in the day, Israeli forces demolished six Palestinian-owned homes in the village of al-Diyouk al-Tahta, west of the city of Ariha, on the pretext that they had been constructed in Area C of the West Bank without a permit.

WAFA reported the troops sealed off the area before proceeding with the large-scale demolition.

Locals say the Israeli army wants to clear off the area from its Palestinian residents in order to press ahead with its settlement expansion activities there.

Israel routinely destroys Palestinian homes and structures under the pretext that they lack construction permits which are next to impossible to obtain.

Demolishing Palestinian structures as collective punishment is another extreme measure that Israel has employed against the Palestinians. Punitive house demolitions have become a regular practice since 1967 after Israel extended its occupation to the West Bank and East al-Quds.

By definition, this is intended to harm people who have done nothing illegal and are not suspected of any wrongdoing; they just happen to be related to someone who has, in most cases allegedly, attacked or attempted to attack Israelis.

Despite international outcry over the illegal practice, Israelis keep on pressing ahead with the harsh policies to date.

Palestinians say the regime's demolition drive is aimed at making room for illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.