West Bank (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian bystander and a Palestinian teenager who was driving a car toward them on Saturday in the West Bank, according to an Israeli security official.
As reported by Reuters, the military stated that an “uninvolved person” was struck in addition to the driver of the car, who had “accelerated” towards troops at a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron.
The military first claimed that two “terrorists” were killed when soldiers opened fire, but later clarified that there was only one.
Who were the two Palestinians killed by Israeli forces?
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Israeli security official stated that a 55-year-old was the bystander and a 17-year-old was operating the vehicle.
Ziad Naim Abu Dawood, a 55-year-old municipal street cleaner, was killed at work, according to the Palestinian state news agency WAFA. It stated that another Palestinian was killed, but it omitted information about what caused the soldiers to start shooting.
Ahmed Khalil Al-Rajabi, 17, was identified as the second Palestinian by the Palestinian Health Ministry. The 17-year-old’s motivation was unclear at first, and no militant organisation took credit.
How has violence escalated across the occupied West Bank?
The Israeli-occupied West Bank has seen an increase in violence this year. Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have increased dramatically, and the military has increased travel restrictions and conducted extensive raids in a number of cities. The Palestinian health ministry reports that Israeli forces have killed fifty-one Palestinian minors under the age of eighteen in the West Bank since January.
What similar killings occurred recently in Nablus?
In a similar killing, the Israeli military claimed to have killed one person overnight during an operation in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus last month, while the Palestinian health ministry reported that a teenager had been shot and killed.
He was taken prisoner by Israeli forces and was already dead when he was turned over to Palestinian ambulance services, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah. In 2025, the Middle East will be significantly and extensively impacted by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
