Israeli forces kill Palestinians in occupied West Bank village of Burqin, Jerusalem’s Old City, and in Gaza.
Aj Jazeera reports… Ramallah, occupied West Bank – Israeli occupation forces have shot and killed three Palestinians in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank village of Burqin, in the Old City of Jerusalem, and in the Gaza Strip.
The first of those killed early on Thursday was identified as 22-year-old Alaa Nasser Mohammed Zayyoud from the village of al-Silah al-Harithiya, northwest Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.
According to local media reports, Zayyoud was shot overnight in the nearby village of Burqin during an armed confrontation with the Israeli army after it raided the town with dozens of military jeeps and special forces at dawn to carry out arrests.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said Zayyoud was shot with four bullets; two in his chest, one in his neck and one in his right thigh.
Witnesses told local media that an Israeli sniper shot him at close range, before “they ran towards him and continued liquidating him from point-blank range”.
“The jeeps and the army then surrounded him. They blocked the ambulance from reaching him […] they allowed the ambulance to come after they made sure he was dead,” the witnesses said.
Two Palestinian men were reportedly injured in Burqin and were taken to hospital for treatment, while two others were arrested, according to local media.
The second Palestinian killed by Israeli forces on Thursday was identified as 30-year-old Israa Khuzaima, a mother of three, from the village of Qabatiya south of Jenin.
Israeli forces announced they shot dead Khuzaima at Bab al-Silsila, also known as Chain Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem, claiming she had tried to stab an officer.
Israeli forces blocked off the entrances to Damascus Gate, Al-Aqsa Mosque and Lion’s Gate after the incident, before later reopening them.
Later on Thursday, a Palestinian man was shot dead near the Gaza-Israeli barrier fence.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said Israeli soldiers opened fire on bird hunter Mohammad Abu Ammar, 41, who later died from his injuries.
The incidents come amid a recent spate of killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces.
On Sunday, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians during armed confrontations following overnight military raids in Jenin and Jerusalem.
Two Palestinians from Burqin were killed, including a 16-year-old child, while three others from the village of Biddu were killed in the nearby village of Beit Anan northwest of Jerusalem.
While Israeli military operations in West Bank towns and villages are a near-daily reality, over the past few months army raids in the Jenin area have been met with live fire by Palestinian residents.
In August, the Israeli army killed four Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp during a raid that led to armed confrontations.