21-year-old Palestinian shot and killed by Israeli forces
A total of 27 Palestinians were detained during the army raids, as Israel fears the PA is losing its grip over the West Bank security situation.
Jerusalem24 – Israeli forces shot and killed Younis Ghassan Tayeh during confrontations that broke out early this morning when Israeli forces invaded the Fara’a refugee camp south of Tubas in the northern occupied West Bank.
The 21-year-old Palestinian was shot with live ammunition in the heart, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The Ministry announced his death at 7.30am.
Israeli forces stormed the camp and began raiding individual houses, triggering confrontations with local youth during which Israeli soldiers fired live bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas.
A comprehensive strike was announced by factions of the National Action in the Tubas governorate in mourning for the Palestinian youth, and in condemnation of “the ongoing crimes of the occupation government.”
A total of 27 Palestinians were arrested during the raids which the army carried out across the occupied West Bank, including in Ramallah, East Jerusalem, Nablus, Hebron, Tubas, Jenin, Qalqilya and Tulkarem.
The last 72 hours in the West Bank have seen a sustained rate of violent events not witnessed since 2015.
Speculation is rife in Israeli media as to whether this seeming culmination of several consecutive weeks of increased operations in the West Bank is heading towards a new Intifada.
On Sunday, following a shooting attack earlier in the day on a settler bus in the Jordan Valley in which six Israeli soldiers and one civilian were injured, Israeli authorities decided to raise the level of alert throughout the West Bank and Israel. Israeli Channel 12 indicated that additional forces would be deployed.
In a report published this morning, Haaretz describes concerns by the Israeli government that the power of the Palestinian Authority is rapidly eroding, and that a package of economic proposals to help the PA may not be enough to alleviate the situation.
According to Haaretz, the issue will be taken up again in more detail later today when Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid is scheduled to conduct “a wide-ranging situational assessment” with heads of the Israeli military.