Palestinian fighter shot dead
A Palestinian resistance fighter belonging to al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades has been shot dead by Israeli troops in the northern West Bank.
Qais Ufi, 19, was hit early on Wednesday by two bullets during an exchange of fire with Israeli occupation troops who swarmed into Tulkaram refugee camp shortly before dawn, Palestinian medical and security sources said.
Ufi was a member of the brigades which are linked to Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat’s Fatah movement.
A Palestinian doctor in the camp said: “Ufi was shot from very close range to the head. There are also signs of burns from cigarette butts in his face and stomach.”
The doctor said a bystander was wounded in the operation and taken to a clinic in the camp.
Denying allegations
Israeli military sources said soldiers who swept into Tulkarm’s
refugee camp shot an approaching armed Palestinian.
They said they had no information on the doctor’s allegations. “The allegations … are not known within the army and go against Israeli army operating procedure,” one source said.
According to Aljazeera’s correspondent, seven people were arrested in the camp. “Israeli forces raided Thabit hospital in Tulkaram city, in an attempt to arrest one of the injured,” he said.
“However, the medical team at the hospital has refused to hand over the injured person to the forces, as he was in a critical condition,” the correspondent added.
The Israeli army pulled out of Tulkaram refugee camp after occupying a number of high buildings for several hours.
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“Ufi was shot from very close range to the head. There are also signs of burns from cigarette butts in his face and stomach.” Palestinian doctor |
Jenin invasion
The operations continued later on Wednesday as the Israeli army invaded Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank and carried out a series of arrests, according to Palestinian security sources.
About a dozen armoured vehicles flanked by jeeps took part in the operation, they added.
Occupation troops arrested two members of the Islamic Jihad group and two followers of the mainstream Fatah as they surrounded several houses in the camp.
Palestinian dies of wounds
Also on Wednesday, a 21-year-old Palestinian man died of wounds sustained last week when Israeli forces opened fire on a protest against the West Bank barrier, medics and fellow
activists said.
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Three people were killed in |
The death of Muhammad Badwan, who was hit in the head by a rubber-coated bullet, brings the overall toll from last Thursday’s protests in the village of Biddo to three.
“He had been brain dead for the past week after he was hit in his head by a rubber bullet. He succumbed to his wounds this morning,” the head of Ram Allah hospital, Husni Atari, told AFP.
US peace activist Neil Ahern, who also took part in the demonstration, said that Badwan’s funeral would be held in his home village of Biddo later in the day.
Badwan’s death brings the overall toll since the start of the
Palestinian intifada in September 2000 to 3794, including 2840 Palestinians and 886 Israelis.