RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestine was killed by Israeli troops on Friday when clashes erupted at a demonstration in the West Bank, a Palestinian health ministry said.
“A citizen killed in the head with a live weapon died,” the ministry said, adding to what happened in the small town of Beit Dajan, near Nablus.
The Israeli army said it was looking into the report.
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Atef Yussef Hanaysheh, 42, was killed in a clash between Israeli and Palestinian militants protesting against Israeli settlement activity, Beit Mayor Dajan Abdelrahman Hanani said.
היווחים פלסטינים: לוחמי צה”ל ירו בראשו של גבר בן 45 במהלך עימותים בכפר בית דג’ן. הוא פונה במצב קשה pic.twitter.com/6CGlEEQ1nE
– שחר גליק (@glick_sh) March 19, 2021
“The soldiers fired as we approached a wild city near the city,” he told AFP, using a term for an outside site not officially recognized by the Israeli government.
A spokesman for the Hamas terrorist group, Hazem Qassem, described the incident as “a new Zionist crime, and [part of] the brutal and relentless atrocity committed by the post against our Palestinian people. ”
“There will always be Zionist crimes [the] fuel for the unsustainable fighting revolution of our people if the occupant does not leave all of our Palestinian territory, ”Qassem said.
Palestinians will gather Friday across the West Bank to protest against the expansion of Israeli settlements, which they say are illegal under international law.
# شاهد لحظة استشــ..هاد الشيخ “عاطف حنايشه” مؤذن مســجد موســى بن نصــير برصــاص الاحتلال في بيت دجن شرق نابلس pic.twitter.com/23g2EmhkeZ
– وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) March 19, 2021
At times the demonstrations fight a conflict with the Israeli army.
Excluding Israel-linked East Jerusalem, an estimated 475,000 Israeli settlers live on the West Bank, an area with more than 2.8 million Palestinian residents.