Day: 19 August 2023

An Israeli father and son have been killed in a suspected Palestinian shooting attack in the occupied West Bank.

It happened near the village of Huwara – which has been the scene of previous deadly attacks on Israelis and rampages by Jewish settlers in retribution.

The shooting took place at a carwash.

The gunman is said to have approached on foot and opened fire with a handgun.

The Israeli ambulance service said the two men aged 28 and 60 were pronounced dead at the scene. Both are said to have been civilians from Ashdod in southern Israel.

Israeli media reported that they had come to the West Bank to fix their car and spent several hours in Huwara.

They say that the attacker spoke to them briefly – maybe to check if they were Jewish Israelis – before shooting them at point blank range.

The weapon was apparently found in a nearby field, and the suspect is still thought to be in the area.

The Israeli military has set up blockades nearby and is hunting for the gunman. It is also said to be on alert for reprisal attacks.

The Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the deadly shooting.

Hawara has long been a flashpoint in the West Bank. It is located on a main road south of Nablus, which is mostly used by Palestinians and Israeli settlers.

In the past, Israelis would sometimes shop there and come for services, which are often cheaper in Palestinian areas of the West Bank. But that has become uncommon after a recent surge in violence.

This year, the village has seen several shooting attacks in which Israeli settlers and soldiers have been targeted – including the killing of two brothers in February.

That triggered a deadly rampage by a large crowd of settlers in one of the worst such acts in years. There have also been other instances of settler violence.

Source: BBC

Eastern Military Zone troops Saturday seized large quantities of drugs and injured a number of smugglers who tried to breach the Jordanian border with Syria, according to an official source at the Jordan Armed Forces- Arab Army (JAF) General Command. It said border guard forces, in coordination with the Anti-Narcotics Department and military security services, tracked a group of smugglers trying to cross the border from Syria, and rapid reaction patrols moved into the site and applied the rules of engagement. Several members of the group were injured in shooting and others fled deep inside Syrian territory, it said, adding that a search of the area led to seizing 63,000 pills of the Captagon drug and 588 palm-sized bags of hashish, which were transferred to the competent authorities. The source said JAF will deal with full force with any threat to the Kingdom’s borders or any attempt to undermine its security and stability.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Israeli occupation forces confiscated a concrete mixer today which was on its way to the Arab al-Zawaidin community in Masafer Yatta region, located south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, according to local sources. Fouad al-Amour, a local Palestinian activist, said the Israeli occupation is attempting to undermine the infrastructure in the region by obstructing the arrival of construction machinery and materials. Yesterday, the Israeli occupation forces seized a bulldozer that was on its way to Masafer Yatta. They also confiscated building materials meant for renovating a residential cave and other structures. Al-Amour pointed out that these Israeli actions are part of a targeted strategy to drive Palestinian residents away from their lands to facilitate settler colonialism in the region and elsewhere. The ongoing incidents involving the confiscation of construction equipment and materials shed light on the challenges faced by Palestinian communities in the face of Israeli policies in the occupied territories, with the Israeli occupation regime trying to alter the demographic and geographic landscape in favor of settlement expansion.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

Israeli occupation forces tightened this evening their military measures and movement restrictions in the northern West Bank province of Nablus. The restrictions include the closure of multiple military checkpoints ahead of the Palestinian traffic and an intensified presence throughout the province. Eyewitnesses told WAFA that Israeli occupation forces closed down the military checkpoints of Huwara and Za’tara in both directions to the south of the city. The Deir Sharaf junction, west of Nablus City, and the Beit Furik checkpoint to the east have all experienced heightened restrictions that caused traffic jams and long queues of vehicles. The town of Huwara, located to the south of Nablus, witnessed a significant deployment of Israeli military personnel, who forced shop owners to shut down their businesses, allegedly to aid the Israeli forces in their search for the gunmen responsible for a shooting operation earlier this afternoon in the town that resulted in the killing of two Israeli settlers. The Israeli occupation army also raided several towns and villages in the province, including Urif, Jama’in, Beita, and Einabus. Over the last few months, increased restrictions and closures by the Israeli military have exacerbated the hardships faced by Palestinian civilians in their daily lives under Israeli military occupation, hampering their freedom of movement and causing significant economic difficulties. Last February, Israeli settlers carried out a pogrom in the town of Huwara, setting fire to Palestinian vehicles, shops and fields and murdering a humanitarian worker, with no intervention from the Israeli army and police.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

A group of Israeli settlers assaulted a young Palestinian child this evening near the Hebron Gate in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, according to local sources. Settlers launched a brutal attack on Mustafa Musa Abu Khalaf, a young Palestinian child from Jerusalem, near the Hebron Gate, the sources said. The assault left him moderately injured, prompting his immediate transfer to Al-Maqasid Hospital in the city for medical treatment. Mustafa’s father, Musa Abu Khalaf, expressed his distress over the incident, saying his son sustained a fractured arm as a result of being mercilessly beaten by the settlers. Palestinian authorities have been demanding international intervention to curb settler violence and to put an end to the ongoing harassment and assaults faced by Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces and settlers in the occupied territories.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

Israeli occupation forces and settlers today assaulted municipality crews in the town of Qaffin, north of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank. The assault occurred as the crews were carrying out road rehabilitation works on the street linking the town with the neighboring village of Zabda, according to local sources. Sources in the Qaffin municipality told WAFA that the settlers provocatively interrupted the municipality’s work at gunpoint. Meantime, an Israeli army force intervened and seized a truck loaded with basecourse, and even attempted to assault the driver, the sources said. Only two weeks ago, Israeli occupation forces stopped a large excavator that was working on the construction of agricultural roads benefiting local residents and farmers in the town. The Israeli forces at the time prevented both municipal crews and equipment owners from continuing their work in the area. The latest incident sheds light on the challenges faced by Palestinian communities in the face of Israeli policies in the occupied territories, with the Israeli occupation regime trying to alter the demographic and geographic landscape in favor of settlement expansion.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA