Violence surges in Palestine, leaving Israeli soldier dead
Nablus, Palestinian Territories (AFP):
Violence is escalating in the occupied West Bank in the wake of relentless Israeli raids, crackdowns and demolitions. A second attack by Palestinians in retaliation to Israeli assaults has left an Israeli soldier dead.
The Israeli army said the soldier, identified as 21-year-old Ido Baroukh, was killed when “two assailants arrived in a vehicle adjacent to the community of Shavei Shomron and shot live fire,” referring to an illegal Israeli settlement.
The shooting was claimed by “The Lions’ Den”, a loose coalition of Palestinian fighters which has emerged in recent months.
Israeli forces are in pursuit of the assailants, the military added in its statement.
“We won’t stop until we catch the killers,” Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said, according to a statement from his office.
Defence Minister Benny Gantz vowed to “get our hands on the ‘terrorist’ and those who helped him”, writing on Twitter.
‘Collective punishment’
The Israeli army and other security forces have launched near daily West Bank raids in recent months.
More than 100 Palestinian fighters and civilians have been killed during the military operations, the heaviest toll in the West Bank for nearly seven years, according to the United Nations.
Since Friday, Israeli forces have shot dead four Palestinian teenagers in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
A fifth Palestinian, a 12-year-old boy, died on Monday from wounds sustained last month during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.
In pursuit of Saturday’s attacker, Israeli forces shut the entrances to Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp and shut down schools.
Ahmad Tibi, an Arab-Israeli lawmaker, visited the camp on Tuesday and described the suffering of residents.
“Sick people are not able to get outside to be treated, bakeries are empty, some physicians and doctors and nurses were not able to get in,” he revealed.
“In order to get out, you need to wait in your car, three or four hours. This is suffering, this is collective punishment,” Tibi added.
Residents of the refugee camp called for “civil disobedience” in protest at the Israeli measures.
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