Israeli Forces Kill 3 Palestinians In Occupied West Bank

By Ma'an News Agency

26 August, 2013

Maannews.net

| PHOTO | Hudaifa Srour Photographer

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli undercover forces killed three Palestinians overnight Sunday in Qalandia refugee camp in Ramallah, in occupied West Bank.

Robin al-Abed, 32, was shot in the chest and died instantly, medics said. Younis Jihad Abu al-Sheikh Jahjouh, 22, was also shot dead.

Jihad Asslan, 20, died Monday morning from his injuries after being pronounced brain dead at a Ramallah hospital.

All three men were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd during clashes with camp residents following an arrest raid.

At least 15 Palestinians were injured by live fire, with six said to be in a critical condition. Most of the injured were shot in the head, chest and upper body, medics said.

Mohammad Abed Badran, Mohammad Mteir, Abdo Mteir, Ali Adawi, and Samer al-Mansour were identified as some of those wounded.

Witnesses told Ma'an that Israeli forces dressed in civilian clothes raided the camp at around 5 a.m. and arrested recently released prisoner Yousef al-Khatib, who had spent 10 years in an Israeli jail.

Dozens of camp residents quickly surrounded Israeli forces, who opened fire.

Another Israeli military patrol then entered the camp.

Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah strongly condemned the incident, calling it a crime against the Palestinian people. The killings show Israel's true intentions towards the peace process, he added, calling upon the US to intervene and prevent peace efforts from failing.

Caretaker Palestinian Authority prime minister Rami Hamdallah also condemned the crime and sent condolences to the victims' families.

An Israeli police spokeswoman said that border police used "riot dispersal means" to disperse a stone-throwing crowd of 1,500 people, but she could not immediately confirm any fatalities or the use of live fire.

"In the early hours of the morning a border police team went into Qalandiya camp to arrest a hostile terrorist activist," spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP.

"After his arrest a mob of about 1,500 residents began a disturbance, throwing petrol bombs and stones, endangering the lives of force members, who responded with riot dispersal means," she said.





















