Ramallah, Dec 8 (Online): The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli forces have shot dead three Palestinians during a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in northern West Bank, as tensions continue to escalate across the occupied territories.
Citing witnesses, Palestine’s official news agency reported that a large number of Israeli military forces stormed the camp on Thursday morning, triggering violent confrontations with local residents, during which three Palestinians were killed.
The three victims were identified by Palestinian media as Tariq Aldamj, Siddiqui Zakarneh and Atta Shilbi.
Israeli snipers were positioned on the rooftops of buildings overlooking the camp, before fierce clashes broke out between Palestinian youth and troops.
Israeli forces then opened live fired at the crowd, leaving ten people injured. The wounded were moved to hospital for medical treatment
Israeli forces also fired directly at an ambulance during the raid, and its medical staff reportedly survived death, witnesses added.
The latest figures bring up the number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli forces since the beginning of the year to 216, including 164 in the occupied West Bank and 54 in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces have recently been conducting overnight raids and killings in the northern occupied West Bank, mainly in the cities of Jenin and Nablus, where new groups of Palestinian resistance fighters have been formed.
According to the United Nations, the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in the occupied West Bank this year is the highest in 16 years.
Local and international rights groups have condemned Israel’s excessive use of force and “shoot-to-kill policy” against Palestinians.
Incidents of sabotage and violence by settlers against Palestinians and their property have also become a daily occurrence throughout the occupied territories, particularly in the West Bank.
However, Israeli authorities rarely prosecute settlers and the vast majority of the files are closed due to deliberate police failure to investigate them properly.
Follow the PNI Facebook page for the latest news and updates.
