WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Zionist troops have shot a Palestinian man who allegedly ran toward them with a knife near a military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, the Zionist regime’s war ministry said, and Palestinian officials said he died of his injury.
The occupying regime’s war ministry claimed a Palestinian man ran toward a checkpoint between near the central West Bank city of Tulkarem "with a knife in hand, with the apparent intention of attacking security personnel”.
The Palestinian health ministry identified the individual as a Palestinian national and said he had died of his injuries. Palestinian officials did not immediately provide further details.
The regime’s war ministry circulated a photo of what it claimed was the scene of the incident. A black plastic sheet, which ministry spokeswoman Betty Ilovici said was laid over the Palestinian’s body, could be seen against the roadside with the checkpoint meters away in the background.
Meanwhile, nearly 70 Palestinians were wounded as Zionist troops attacked people participating in fresh weekly rallies near the fence separating the besieged Gaza Strip from the occupied territories on Friday.
Hundreds of Palestinians took part on the 79th Friday of protests in eastern Gaza under the banner of "No to Normalization,” rejecting all forms of normalization with Tel Aviv, after the Hamas resistance movement said some Arab states were rushing to normalize ties with the occupying regime.
A spokesman for Gaza’s Health Ministry said 69 people were injured by Zionist troops during the latest protests.
Ashraf al-Qedra added that 26 of those wounded during the protests were shot with live ammunition fired by the regime’s troops.
Palestinians have been holding weekly rallies in the Gaza Strip since March 30 last year to protest against the more than decade-long siege imposed by the regime on the enclave and to stress the right to return of the Palestinians who have been driven out of their homeland by the regime’s aggression since 1948.
At least 312 Palestinians have been killed by Zionist troops since the start of the anti-occupation protest rallies. Over 18,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries.
In March, a United Nations fact-finding mission found that Zionist troops committed rights violations during their crackdown against the Palestinian protesters in Gaza that may amount to war crimes.
Gaza has been under siege by the Zionist regime since June 2007, which has caused a decline in living standards.