TEHRAN, Mar 20 - Israeli forces have shot and killed a Palestinian teenager, whom they alleged to have carried out a shooting attack in the central part of the occupied West Bank at the weekend, which killed an Israeli soldier as well as a rabbi and severely injured a settler.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -Israeli media outlets reported that 19-year-old Omar Amin Abu Lila was shot dead during a shootout in the village of Abwein, located about 37 kilometers north of Ramallah, late on Tuesday night after Israeli special units surrounded the house he was in.
The development came a day after Israeli army and Shin Bet security service arrested relatives of Abu Lila, a resident of the village of Az-Zawiya, and mapped the family's house in preparation of a possible demolition. Dozens of young Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces in response, with local reports saying several were wounded as Israeli troops opened fire at the protesters.
In another attack, two young Palestinian men were shot dead by Israeli soldiers near Joseph's Tomb on the outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.
Witnesses told Palestinian Safa news agency that an Israeli a military bulldozer hit a car, which was carrying the Palestinians, and then Israeli soldiers engaged them with direct fire. Israeli forces reportedly prevented Palestinian paramedics and ambulances from reaching the area.
The two young Palestinian men were later identified as 21-year-old Raed Hashim Hamdan and Zaid Anad Mohammed Nuri, 20.
Tensions are high in the West Bank over ongoing Israeli aggression at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem al-Quds.
On Sunday, the Jerusalem al-Quds Magistrate's Court announced that it had accepted a request by Israeli officials to temporarily close Bab al-Rahma (Gate of Mercy) prayer area at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Jordan condemned the court ruling, with its Foreign Ministry saying that Israel would bear “full responsibility for the dangerous consequences” of the decision.
Prayer area of the al-Rahma Gate was closed on February 25 upon an order by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and reopened the following day.
Israel had closed the gate that leads to the prayer space in al-Aqsa Mosque since 2003 in the face of the Second Intifada (uprising) against the regime’s occupation.
On February 22, however, the Waqf Council, which oversees the holy sites at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, decided to re-open the prayer space at the Bab al-Rahma Gate in defiance of Israel’s 16-year-old ban. Hundreds of worshipers, led by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem al-Quds, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, entered the area for the first time since 2003 for Friday prayers.
Angered by the move, the Tel Aviv regime launched an arrest campaign against Palestinians. The arrests drew criticisms from Palestinians and Jordan. The Islamic Waqf organization and Palestinian institutions have insisted on keeping the Bab al-Rahma prayer area open for Muslim worship.
Palestinians have repeatedly warned of Israeli attempts to change the status quo of the al-Aqsa compound, the third holiest site in Islam.
Israeli aircraft bomb areas across Gaza Strip
Meanwhile, Israeli military aircraft have carried out new airstrikes against the besieged Gaza Strip, bombarding the northern and southern sectors of the enclave.
Israeli media said the aircraft struck several targets belonging to the Hamas resistance movement on Tuesday evening. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Israeli military claimed the strikes were carried out in response to the renewed launching of incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip into occupied territory.
Palestinians have held weekly protests on the Gaza border, over the siege on the enclave and the right for refugees to return to their homes they fled during the 1948 creation of Israel.
More than 270 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces ever since anti-occupation protest rallies began in the Gaza Strip on March 30. Over 26,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries.
The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14 last year, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.
On June 13, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, sponsored by Turkey and Algeria, condemning Israel for civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip.
The resolution, which had been put forward on behalf of Arab and Muslim countries, garnered a strong majority of 120 votes in the 193-member assembly, with 8 votes against and 45 abstentions.
The resolution called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to make proposals within 60 days “on ways and means for ensuring the safety, protection, and well-being of the Palestinian civilian population under Israeli occupation,” including “recommendations regarding an international protection mechanism.”
It also called for “immediate steps towards ending the closure and the restrictions imposed by Israel on movement and access into and out of the Gaza Strip.”
Source: Press TV
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