RAMALLAH: Israeli forces carried out a pre-dawn raid in the West Bank on Sunday, resulting in the brutal killing of two Palestinians, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The incident occurred as the Israeli army confirmed its operations within the occupied territory.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has witnessed a surge in violence since early last year, with the West Bank experiencing a particularly heightened level of unrest. The deaths of the two Palestinians mark the eighth such incident in which Palestinians have been killed during Israeli incursions since last Tuesday.
The Palestinian health ministry reported that “two Palestinians were killed by live Israeli bullets to the head” in the town of Tulkarem. The Israeli army also confirmed that during clashes in Nur Shams refugee camp near the town, a soldier had been “moderately injured by gunshot fragments.”
The two Palestinians killed in the operation were identified as Osaid Abu Ali, 22, and Abd Al-Rahman Abu Daghash, 32. Ibrahim Al-Nimer, a resident of the area and a representative of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group in the camp, stated that “the two were civilians.”
Al-Nimer further explained that the Israeli army entered the camp after 2:00 am, during which they demolished streets and some houses within the camp.
Israeli Forces’ Raids in West Bank
In recent months, there has been a notable increase in military raids in the West Bank. Additionally, there has been a surge in West Bank settler attacks against Palestinians.
Israel has maintained its occupation of the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967. The territory, excluding annexed east Jerusalem, is currently home to around 490,000 Israelis illegally residing in settlements considered illegal under international law.
The Palestinians, striving for their own independent state, demand Israel’s withdrawal from all land it occupied during the Six-Day War and the dismantling of all Israeli settlements. However, the hard-right coalition government led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continued to push forward with settlement expansion, with several government members being settlers themselves.
Since the beginning of this year, at least 241 Palestinians have lost their lives in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The casualties on the Palestinian side are mostly civilians.
