AP / December 5, 2022
Palestinian health officials say a 22-year-old Palestinian man has been killed by Israeli fire during a military raid in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian health officials said a Palestinian man was killed by Israeli fire during a military raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday.
It was the latest death in a recent surge of violence in the territory. The Israeli military has been conducting daily raids throughout the West Bank since the spring.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said that soldiers entered the Deheishe refugee camp near the city of Bethlehem early on Monday, sparking clashes with a group of local residents. The soldiers then fired tear gas and opened fire at the crowd, it said.
The agency said Omar Manah, 23, was killed while six other Palestinians were wounded. Four were arrested.
The Israeli military said soldiers entered the camp to arrest three wanted militants. It said the soldiers opened fire after the crowd hurled rocks and firebombs at them.
Rising Israeli-Palestinian tensions have made 2022 the deadliest year in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the long-running conflict since 2006. Further escalation appears likely, as the most right-wing and religious government in Israel’s history is poised to be installed in the coming weeks, with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returning to power.
More than 140 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli-Palestinian fighting this year. The Israeli army says most of the Palestinians killed have been militants. But stone-throwing youths protesting Israeli army incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed.
Monday’s deadly shooting came against the backdrop of months of Israeli arrest raids in the West Bank, prompted by a spate of Palestinian attacks against Israelis in the spring that killed 19 people. The military says the raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks, but the Palestinians say they entrench Israel’s open-ended occupation, now in its 56th year. A recent wave of Palestinian attacks against Israeli targets killed an additional nine people.
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Israeli forces kill Palestinian in overnight West Bank raid
MEE Staff
Middle East Eye / December 5, 2022
The Israeli military killed one Palestinian and injured six in dawn raids. Reports that the son of imprisoned senior Islamic Jihad was also arrested.
One Palestinian was killed and six others injured by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Monday.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 23-year-old Omar Manah was hit in the chest by live fire. During the Israeli operation, Manah was killed at the Dheisheh refugee camp south of Bethlehem.
In a separate operation, Israeli forces reportedly arrested Yahya al-Saadi, the son of the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Bassam al-Saadi, after storming his house in Jenin.
Bassam is currently in an Israeli jail, and his arrest in August resulted in an escalation of tensions, with the PIJ responding to the Israeli military aggression.
In response, over the course of three days in early August, Israeli forces unleashed a wave of air strikes on the besieged Gaza Strip, killing 49 people, including 17 children, and wounding at least 360 others.
Local Palestinian news sources stated that following the dawn raid at the Dheisheh refugee camp, the occupation forces raided several houses at dawn, resulting in clashes. The Israeli military fired live rounds, tear gas and sound bombs.
Several other Palestinians were shot in their limbs and were taken to the hospital.
Palestinian groups in Bethlehem have declared a general strike and a day of mourning for Omar Manah, urging everyone to participate in Manah’s funeral procession.
Deadly year for Palestinians
The latest Israeli escalation follows a series of killings last week, including two brothers.
The latest killings bring the death toll in the occupied Palestinian territories this year to at least 208 Palestinians, of whom 156 were killed in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, making it the deadliest year recorded for Palestinians since 2005.
Israel’s “shoot-to-kill policy” has been widely criticized as the number of Palestinian deaths at the hands of Israeli forces increases.
