Israel kills four Palestinians in West Bank
Palestinian police carry the body of their colleague Tariq Badwan, killed by Israeli soldiers, during his funeral in the West Bank city of Jenin on 6 February.
APA images
A fifth Palestinian, Khalil al-Adham, died on Thursday from his injuries after being shot by Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, the health ministry in the territory reported.
Several Israeli soldiers were injured in three attacks on Thursday.
Israeli forces say they are pursuing a gunman who opened fire on a group of soldiers outside a settlement near Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, earlier in the day. One soldier was hospitalized for light injuries to his head.
Before dawn on Thursday, a motorist drove into a group of soldiers in West Jerusalem, injuring 12 of them, one seriously. Israel arrested the alleged attacker, a 25-year-old resident of occupied East Jerusalem, late Thursday.
The soldiers, belonging to the Golani Brigade, “were visiting Jerusalem ahead of an early morning swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall,” Israeli media reported.
Soldiers in the Golani Brigade have incited the murder of Palestinians on social media and are suspected of perpetrating war crimes in Gaza.
Later on Thursday, a Palestinian citizen of Israel was shot dead after opening fire at Israeli Border Police officers outside the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Israeli media named the slain Palestinian assailant as Shadi Banna, 45, from Haifa.
Security camera footage released by Israel shows Banna approaching a group of officers belonging to the paramilitary police force and opening fire with a pistol:
من مسافة صفر..لحظة تنفيذ عملية إطلاق نار صوب جنود الاحتلال في باب الأسباط بالقدس المحتلة pic.twitter.com/pBJeEuk8fq— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@QudsNN) February 6, 2020
The video appears to show the moment Banna is shot. He is still running from the scene when the clip of the incident ends.
Israeli police stated that one officer was injured lightly.
Deadly home demolition raid
Two Palestinians, including a police officer, were killed during an Israeli home demolition raid in the northern West Bank city of Jenin early Thursday.
Occupation forces raided the city to destroy for the second time a home belonging to the family of Ahmad Qanbaa, a Palestinian imprisoned by Israel over his alleged role in a shooting attack that killed a settler two years ago.
“The military first demolished the building in 2018, but it had since been rebuilt,” Israeli media reported.
Eight people, including two children, lived in the building that was razed on Thursday, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
Since late 2015, Israel has accelerated the demolitions of the family residences of Palestinians alleged to have attacked Israelis.
Such collective punishment measures are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which Israel has ratified.
They also highlight Israel’s institutionalized racism, since such punishments are never meted out against the families of Israeli Jews who attack Palestinians.
Palestinians gathered at the scene of the demolition and confronted occupation forces. The military used live fire, rubber-coated bullets and tear gas against protesters.
Yazan Munthir Khalid Abu Tabikh, 19, was shot in the chest and killed immediately, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights stated.
Photos of Abu Tabikh on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca were circulated by Palestinian media outlets after his death:
