WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Mourners on Friday carried the body of Palestinian Jamil Abu Ayyash who was shot dead by Zionist troops in the West Bank city of Nablus.
The Zionist troops shot and killed Abu Ayyash and injured dozens during a protest on Friday against Zionist settlements in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Abu Ayyash, 31, sustained a gunshot wound to the head in the northern village of Beita and succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Nablus, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
Ahmed Jibril, director of the emergency department at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, told Middle East Eye that Zionist troops injured more than 70 Palestinians during the demonstration.
Beita has been the scene of frequent protests since May, when dozens of Zionists began building a settlement outpost known as Eviatar, in violation of international law, on a nearby hilltop where many Palestinians have farmland and homes.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) condemned the murder of Abu Ayyash. In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, the PA urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to take action against the occupying regime over this murder.
“The occupation’s suppression of Palestinian citizens participating in non-violent protests with live bullets is a crime in every sense of the word, amounting to a war crime and a crime against humanity,” the ministry announced in a statement.
The statement held the regime fully and directly responsible for the crime, calling on the permanent investigation committee formed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to start an immediate investigation into the crimes of the occupying regime and settlers.
Meantime, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh strongly condemned the murder of Abu Ayyash.