MEE Staff
Middle East Eye / April 14, 2022
Killings come during sixth day of Israeli ‘counterterrorism’ operation targeting Jenin in the West Bank.
Two Palestinians were shot dead early on Thursday by Israeli forces during a raid on the occupied West Bank, the health ministry reported.
“Two youths died of injuries sustained in an Israeli attack in the Jenin district,” the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement.
The raid marked the sixth day of an Israeli operation in the West Bank which has mainly targeted the city of Jenin.
The Israeli army said it had been “continuing recent counterterrorism activities” a week after a man from the city killed three people in Tel Aviv.
In addition, Israel has said it is reinforcing its wall and fence barrier in the West Bank in the wake of four deadly attacks that have claimed 14 lives in Israel over the last three weeks.
Since 22 March, a total of 20 Palestinians have been killed, based on figures collated by AFP, including both civilians and those accused of involvement in attacks on Israelis.
A wave of killings
On Wednesday evening, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians in separate incidents in the West Bank.
The first victim, a young teenage boy, was killed in Husan village near Bethlehem. He was identified as Qusai Hamamra, 14, and his body was withheld by Israeli forces after his death, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Northeast of Ramallah, Israeli forces fatally shot Omar Elayian, 20, in the chest, as Israeli forces raided the town of Silwad and other parts of the city, the ministry said.
Earlier this week, Ghada Ibrahim al-Aridi, a 47-year-old widowed Palestinian mother of six, was shot and killed by an Israeli soldier in Husan village, west of Bethlehem.
Footage documenting the moment she was shot showed her posing no threat to the soldiers. No weapon was found on her.
The tensions have come during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and ahead of the start of Passover Friday, an overlap that can heighten tensions around sacred sites in Jerusalem’s Old City.
