Al-Quds (Dispatches) –
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye has condemned the killing of a 14-year-old boy by Zionist troops in Abu Dis, a town southeast of Al-Quds, the official Palestinian news agency (WAFA) reported.
Ishtaye warned of “the dangerous repercussions of the escalation of killings and field executions committed by the Israeli forces in the Palestinian territories.”
According to Palestinian eyewitnesses, the boy named Yamen Jaffal was critically wounded by Zionist troops during clashes that broke out in the town with Palestinian protesters when Zionist army troops stormed the town to arrest Palestinian activists.
The eyewitnesses added that the troops prevented Palestinian ambulances from reaching the boy and then arrested him while he was in critical condition. Jaffal later succumbed to his wounds, according to the health ministry.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on Monday denounced the killing of Jaffal as “full-fledged war crime”.
“The execution of the young man, Yamen Nafez Jaffal, reflects the terrorism of the occupation army and its leaders, and their disregard for all international laws, resolutions and institutions,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.
He stressed that “these crimes won’t stop our people’s legitimate pursuit and just struggle to recover their land and sanctuaries and to establish their state with Al-Quds as its capital.”
The spokesman called on the international community to hold Zionist regime officials accountable in the International Criminal Court for their crimes against humanity.
Jaffal was the second Palestinian to die in Al-Quds at the hands of the Zionist troops in less than 24 hours.
At dawn on Sunday, Kareem Jamal Qawasmi, 19, was shot dead by the Zionist troops near Bab al-Huta neighborhood to the north of Al-Aqsa Mosque over an alleged stabbing attack against Zionist troops.
Zionist troops have on numerous occasions been caught on camera brutally killing Palestinians, with the videos going viral online and sparking international condemnation.
The Hamas resistance movement praised the heroic operation, and described it as a natural response to the ongoing crimes of the occupying regime against Palestinians.
“The holy city [of Al-Quds] is fighting to expel occupiers and preserve its Palestinian-Arab identity. This is an open battle with the occupation, which will not stop unless the primary goals of our nation, namely liberation of our land, return of refugees and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with al-Quds as its capital, are achieved,” Qassem said in a statement.
He stressed that “the blood of today’s martyr, which was shed at dawn on the soil of the Holy City, will preserve its identity and protect it against invaders and all attempts to seize it.”
“Such great sacrifices, which were embodied in today’s martyrdom, represent the Palestinians’ willingness to pay the price for cleansing the holy sites from the impurity of the Israeli occupation.”