JERUSALEM (AA) – Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and Gaza on the 12th Friday of the third Palestinian “intifada” (uprising), according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The ministry said that 21-year-old Muhammad Ayyad was killed by Israeli forces under the pretext that he attempted to run over Israeli soldiers in Silwad village northeast of Ramallah.
Israeli army spokesman Peter Lerner claimed that Palestinian assailant was shot after he attempted to ram his vehiche into Israeli forces near Silwad.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that the Israeli soldiers shot the Palestinian young man multiple times and left him to bleed for one hour before an Israeli military ambulance took his body in a black plastic bag to an unknown destination.
Later on Friday, the Ministry of Health another young Palestinian man succumbed to injuries sustained earlier in the day by an Israeli sniper near Ramallah city.
Nasha’at Asfour was killed after a bullet struck his chest during clashes with Israeli forces in Sinjel village in eastern Ramallah.
At least 15 Palestinians were injured by live ammunition and rubber bullets during the clashes in West Bank today, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
Later in the evening, thousands of Palestinians attended a funeral procession Friday for slain 14-year-old Hadil Awwad at the Qalandia refugee camp. He was killed in Jaffa Street in Western Jerusalem last month.
Awwad’s body was delivered Friday to her family after it was detained for 24 days by Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, 20-year-old Mahmoud al-Agha was killed by Israeli gunfire during clashes in Khan Yunis city in southern Gaza, while at least 40 others were injured by live ammunition and rubber bullets.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Friday’s deaths bring the total number of Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces since Oct. 1 to 129, including 26 minors and six women.
At least 93 of those slain were killed “in cold blood”, the ministry said. Some 55 bodies are still being held by the Israeli authorities, it added.
[Photo: Mahmoud Al Agha and Ayyad Mohammed al Hajj killed by Israeli troops 18 December 2015 Photo Imemc]
The last ten weeks left 22 Israelis dead and over 250 injured.
Some observers attribute the recent uptick in violence to a July arson attack in the West Bank by suspected Jewish settlers that killed an 18-month-old Palestinian child — and his parents — and led to an international outcry.
