3 Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers in WB

Two men, Hamza Maqbool and Khairi Shaheen, were killed during an early Friday morning raid in Nablus. A third, named as Abdul Jawwad Saleh, was shot by Israeli forces in the village of Umm Safa, which neighbours Ramallah, later on Friday.

The Nablus raid was described by some locals as an “invasion”.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced in a statement its crews “transferred the bodies of two martyrs from the Old City of Nablus”.

Israeli forces cordoned off the house before fatally shooting the men, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. Three others were also injured.

In Ramallah, the 24-year-old Saleh was shot during a protest by Palestinians against an illegal Israeli settlement outpost, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Palestinians stated that the settlers threw stones at them, and that Israeli soldiers at the scene opened fire, shooting Saleh.

The Israeli military announced it was checking the report.

The incidents come less than two days after an Israeli army raid in the Jenin refugee camp that killed 12 Palestinians and wounded 140 others, 30 of them seriously.

The raid, which forced thousands to flee the camp which was left in rubble and ruin, was the largest Israeli attack in the West Bank in more than 20 years.

Israel has been conducting near-daily raids and killing Palestinians in the West Bank since June 2021 in an attempt to crack down on a growing armed resistance.