Three Palestinians killed by Israel undercover unit

Jaba, Palestinian Territories (AFP):

Three Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli border police in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.

The deadly raid came just hours before Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin was due in Israel for talks and after the United Nations urged both sides to end the cycle of violence in the West Bank “immediately”.

The raid also came days after the UN urged the hardline Israel regime to exercise restraint and restore calm after some of the bloodiest months in the occupied region’s history.

The Palestinian ministry announced the martyrdom of three men shot by Israeli forces in Jaba, near the flashpoint northern city of Jenin.

On the other hand, an Israeli minister claimed that the suspected militants fired on the undercover officers first.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is responsible for the border police, praised the undercover officers for “taking out the despicable terrorists, who opened fire at our fighters”.

The health ministry identified the slain Palestinians as Sufyan Fakhoury, 26, Ahmed Fashafsha, 22, and Nayef Malaysha, 25. It did not provide further details.

Israeli police claimed that special forces accompanied by soldiers had been in Jaba to arrest “suspects” involved in “shooting attacks against soldiers in the area” — without providing evidence for the claim, while insisting that both Fakhoury and Fashafsha were operatives of Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad.

In a statement, Islamic Jihad condemned Israel for the “heinous assassination” in Jaba.

The Palestinian health ministry announced the seventh death from the Tuesday raid on Thursday — identifying him as Walid Nassar, 14.

Pentagon chief visit 

Thursday’s raid came just hours before the Pentagon chief was due in Israel for talks, which have been moved from the defence ministry in Tel Aviv to Ben Gurion airport in the face of persistent Israeli protests against the hardline government that took office in December.

“At the request of the Israeli ministry of defence, the location of Secretary Austin’s bilateral meetings Thursday in Tel Aviv with Israeli leaders will be relocated from the ministry of defence to a location near the airport,” Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder said.

A senior US defence official said Israeli officials had “concerns about planned protests near the ministry of defence headquarters” in Tel Aviv.

“The US, of course, supports the right to hold peaceful and nonviolent protests… and looks forward to productive discussions,” the official added.

A Tuesday raid by the Israeli military in Jenin resulted in the deaths of seven Palestinian civilians.

UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland said on Wednesday that the “cycle of violence… must be stopped immediately,” calling on Israelis and Palestinians “to observe calm and restraint”.

The violence in the West Bank comes against a backdrop of rising tensions since the beginning of the year, coinciding with the tenure of Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government that took office in December.

Some observers fear further violence particularly around Jerusalem’s holy sites during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which begins in late March, and the Jewish holiday of Passover in April.

Zionist extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has already announced that there will be no halt in raids and demolitions in Palestine in the holy month of Ramadan.

Since the start of the year, the Israeli occupation has claimed the lives of 75 Palestinians including children.