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Folks examine the rubble of a home that was demolished by Israeli troopers, within the village of Kafr Dan in Jenin, within the occupied West Financial institution, on Jan. 2.JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP/Getty Photographs
Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, together with a person claimed by an armed group as a member, throughout a confrontation that erupted early Monday when troops entered a Palestinian village within the occupied West Financial institution, Palestinian well being officers mentioned.
The 2 males had been killed within the village of Kafr Dan close to the northern metropolis of Jenin. The Israeli army mentioned it entered Kafr Dan late Sunday to demolish the homes of two Palestinian gunmen who killed an Israeli soldier throughout a firefight in September. The army mentioned troops got here beneath heavy hearth and fired again on the shooters.
It was the newest bloodshed within the area that has seen Israeli-Palestinian tensions surge for months. On Monday, the Israeli rights group B’Tselem mentioned 2022 was the deadliest yr for Palestinians since 2004, a interval of intense violence that got here throughout a Palestinian rebellion.
The Palestinian Well being Ministry recognized these killed as Samer Houshiyeh, 21, and Fouad Abed, 25. Houshiyeh was shot a number of occasions within the chest, in line with Samer Attiyeh, the director of the Ibn Sina Hosipital in Jenin. Attiyeh initially mentioned Abed was 17, however the ministry later gave his age as 25.
An armed group, the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, later claimed Houshiyeh as a member. The group, an offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah celebration, revealed an older picture during which Houshiyeh had posed with rifles. Video on social media confirmed his physique wrapped with the armed group’s flag as his mom and different mourners bid farewell.
It was not instantly clear whether or not the second Palestinian killed was additionally affiliated with a militant group.
Israel says it demolishes the houses of militants as a method to deter potential attackers. Critics say the tactic quantities to collective punishment.
The Israeli army has been conducting near-daily raids into Palestinian cities and cities since a spate of Palestinian assaults towards Israelis killed 19 final spring.
Almost 150 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli hearth within the West Financial institution and east Jerusalem final yr, in line with B’Tselem’s figures, making 2022 the deadliest since 2004, when 197 Palestinians had been killed. A contemporary wave of assaults killed at the least one other 9 Israelis within the fall. The Israeli military says a lot of the Palestinians killed have been militants. However stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and others not concerned in confrontations have additionally been killed.
Hamoked, an Israeli rights group, mentioned that Israel is holding 866 Palestinians in administrative detention, a type of imprisonment with out trial. That determine is up from round 500 a yr in the past, the group mentioned, the very best since 2003, through the peak of the final Palestinian rebellion. It mentioned {that a} complete of 4,658 Palestinians are imprisoned by Israel on safety associated prices.
Israel says the raids are supposed to dismantle militant networks and thwart future assaults. The Palestinians see them as additional entrenchment of Israel’s 55-year, open-ended occupation of the West Financial institution.
Israel captured the West Financial institution, together with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, within the 1967 Mideast struggle and the Palestinians search these territories for a future state.
