WEST BANK (Dispatches) –
Zionist troops fatally shot a Palestinian teenager in a raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, part of a relentless wave of violence that has rocked the region for the last year.
There was no immediate comment from the occupying regime’s military, which has been staging near-nightly raids in West Bank cities, towns and villages in what it says is an attempt to stamp out militancy. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed by Zionist fire this year.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the teen as Jibril al-Laada, 17. It said three others were seriously wounded in the fighting, which took place in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp near the West Bank city of Ariha. The camp has been a frequent target of Zionist raids.
Also on Monday, a group of Zionist settlers assaulted and wounded two Palestinians in the latest attack against farmers, amid a rise in settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
Khaled Salah, 50, and Mahmoud Faroniya, 51, were trying to access their land in Burqa village near Nablus, north of the West Bank, when around eight settlers approached them in a car, and then proceeded to get out of the vehicle and attack them.
The 50-year-old suffered bruises all over his body, a concussion, and a broken hand and nose.
He was taken to the hospital along with Mahmoud Faroniya, who was also wounded from stones thrown at him during the assault.
On Friday, another Palestinian teenager was fatally shot by Zionist troops during clashes southeast of the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem.
Palestinian officials said 16-year-old Mustafa Amer Sabbah was killed after Zionist troops indiscriminately fired live rounds at civilians confronting the forces during a raid on Tuqu’ town, located 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) southeast of Bethlehem.
Early last month, heavily armed Zionist troops stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound before firing tear gas and stun grenades into the Qibli prayer hall, where hundreds of men, women, elderly people, and children were staying overnight to pray. Some eyewitnesses said rubber-coated steel bullets were also fired.
Over the past few months, the occupying regime has ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been wounded.
The secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has warned that mounting tensions across the occupied West Bank over Zionist military raids and settler-related violence could turn into a new, full-blown intifada (uprising) at anytime soon.
Ahmad Sa’adat stressed on Sunday evening that the next intifada would be much stronger and deeper than the two previous ones, and if that happens, that’s a complete breakdown of law and order.
Intifada refers to uprisings against the Zionist regime, the first of which took place between 1987 and 1993, when more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed.
The second intifada took place between 2000 and 2005, when the occupying regime killed at least 4,973 Palestinians. This was also the time when the whole world watched the cold-blooded killing of 12-year-old Palestinian Muhammad al-Durrah by the apartheid regime.
Meanwhile, a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement has condemned the Zionist regime’s crimes against Palestinians, stating that such acts of aggression will only beef up Palestinians’ determination and resolve to fight off occupation through all available means.