West Bank: two more Palestinians killed by Israeli army 

Two more Palestinians were shot dead yesterday by the Israeli occupation army during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, Wafa news agency has reported. The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the two men killed in the village of Deir Al-Hatab as Saud Al-Titi and Mohammed Abu Dira.

According to a Palestinian Red Crescent Society official, medical staff on the ground also transferred a Palestinian youth who was shot in the shoulder to the Rafidia Surgical Hospital. Ahmed Jibril added that the Israeli forces prevented paramedics from approaching the scene.

The killings come after the recent killing of a 15-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammad Fayez Balhan, who was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier. He was transferred to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The Israeli military claimed that the soldiers had disarmed the Palestinians who attempted to fire towards the illegal Elon Moreh settlement, and confiscated an M-16 firearm and a pistol before both men were “neutralised”, the Israeli euphemism for “shot and killed”.

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Tensions have been running high across the Palestinian territories since Israeli police forcibly removed worshippers from Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem last week. Moreover, there has been an increase in the number of Israeli raids across the occupied West Bank over the past few months, particularly in Nablus and Jenin, coupled with violence carried out by illegal settlers who have, at times, even turned against Israeli forces.

The latest killings have taken the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces this year to 98. Last year was deemed the deadliest for the occupied West Bank since 2015, but this year’s death toll has already exceeded the number of those killed in 2022.