WEST BANK (Dispatches) – At least two more Palestinians have been killed and several others injured as tensions between Zionist troops and illegal settlers on the one side and Palestinian protesters on the other continue in the occupied territories.
Zionist troops raided the Palestinian village of Umm al-Hayran in the Negev desert early on Wednesday to demolish a number of Palestinian houses there, prompting fierce scuffles with local residents, Arabic-language al-Aqsa television network reported.
The regime claimed the houses were being built without permits issued by the occupying regime.
Zionist troops fired tear gas canisters, stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. Two villagers were fatally shot, and four others sustained gunshot wounds.
Ayman Odeh, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) who currently serves as the head of the Arab-dominated political alliance Joint List, was shot in the head and injured during the melee.
Odeh was taken to Suruka Hospital in the southern city of Beersheva to receive medical treatment.
Palestinian sources later identified one of the fatalities as Yaqoub Moussa Abu al-Qayaan. They said Qayaan was shot dead as he sought to prevent the regime’s troops from entering the village.
Zionist troops later declared Umm al-Hayran a closed military zone, and imposed a curfew on it. Military equipment and reinforcements were sent to the area as well.
The development came only a few hours after they carried out an attack on the Qalandiya refugee camp north of al-Quds.
Reports say the Zionist troops used tear gas and live bullets as clashes broke out between residents and the troops inside the camp.
Witnesses said Zionist troops prevented local medical staff from taking the injured to a nearby hospital. The troops also demolished two Palestinian homes near the place.
Meanwhile, an Israeli settler ran over a four-year-old Palestinian girl in the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil, located 30 kilometers south of al-Quds, on Tuesday evening.
Locals said Layan Ayed al-Razem was crossing the street in the Jabal Jales area of the city when she was hit.
Palestinian medical sources at al-Ahli Hospital in al-Khalil said the little girl was admitted with "bruises all over her body, mainly on her right leg.” They added that she is in a stable condition.