Israeli occupation forces shot dead a Palestinian youth near Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank, on Tuesday evening. The Israeli occupation military claimed that he had tried to carry out a stabbing attack at a bus station used by Israeli settlers, but no injuries were reported among the Israelis.
The incident came hours after another Palestinian, Muhannad al-Mazra, a farmer from occupied Jerusalem, was killed by Israeli forces after he opened fire at a shopping center in the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, east of Jerusalem. Six Israeli settlers were wounded in the attack, two of them seriously.
This comes after of a wave of violence that has gripped the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the year, amid rising tensions over Israel’s policies and practices in the territory. According to Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organization, Israeli forces have killed at least 160 Palestinians, including 25 children, in the West Bank since January 1. This is the highest number of Palestinian fatalities for the same period since 2000, when the second intifada or uprising erupted.
Al-Haq said that most of the deaths occurred during Israeli raids, clashes, and alleged attacks by Palestinians. It accused Israel of violating international law and human rights by using excessive and lethal force, imposing collective punishment, expanding illegal settlements, demolishing Palestinian homes and structures, detaining and abusing Palestinian prisoners, and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem and its holy sites.
Israel says it acts in self-defense and to prevent violence, but many Palestinians say they have no choice but to resist Israel’s occupation and oppression. The international community has repeatedly called for an end to the conflict and a peaceful solution based on a two-state solution along the 1967 borders, but little progress has been made in recent years.
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