Israeli army kills Palestinian in West Bank clashes
Israeli troops fatally shot a Palestinian man during clashes in the occupied West Bank, hours after police deployed in a tight neighborhood in East Jerusalem to try to contain violence between ultranationalist Jewish militants and Palestinian residents
JERUSALEM — Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man during clashes in the occupied West Bank on Sunday evening, hours after police deployed in a tight neighborhood in East Jerusalem to try to contain violence between ultranationalist Jewish militants and Palestinians. Palestinian residents.
Early Monday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Akram Abu Salah, 17, died from a bullet to the head.
The clashes erupted after Israeli forces arrived in the village of Silat al-Harithiya near Jenin to destroy the homes of two Palestinian detainees accused of opening fire on a car traveling near a military outpost. settlement in the West Bank and killing a settler in December.
Earlier in Jerusalem, unrest erupted in Sheikh Jarrah, a red-hot neighborhood where clashes last year helped spark an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Dozens of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah and other East Jerusalem neighborhoods are at risk of eviction by Jewish settler organizations, and tensions between the parties often escalate into violence.
The latest unrest erupted after a settler’s house was burned down over the weekend. Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultra-nationalist MP, responded to the fire by setting up a makeshift office early on Sunday near the home of a family facing eviction. Palestinians moved into Ben-Gvir’s tent, throwing plastic chairs in the afternoon and jostling with his supporters.
Late Sunday, riot police sprayed putrid-smelling water to disperse Palestinian protests. A video posted on social media showed an Israeli policeman kicking a young Palestinian man. Police reported at least 12 arrests.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Medical Service said 14 Palestinians were injured, including four with rubber bullet wounds. Explosions from stun grenades used by police to disperse crowds could be heard during the evening.
Ben-Gvir, a supporter of a radical rabbi who has called for the expulsion of Arabs from Israel, accused the police of using “extreme brutality” against his supporters. He said he would spend the night in the area “so that they learn”.
In addition to eviction threats, thousands of Palestinians live in homes in East Jerusalem that are threatened with demolition due to discriminatory policies that make it extremely difficult for Palestinians to build new homes or expand existing ones. . Eviction threats, linked to decades-old battles between Palestinian residents and Jewish settlers, sparked protests and clashes last May that helped ignite the Gaza war.
Israel captured East Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Middle East war. It then annexed East Jerusalem, home to the city’s most sensitive holy sites, in a gesture that is not recognized by the international community.
Israel considers the entire city its capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. The fate of the city is one of the most contentious issues in this century-old conflict.