Two Palestinians Killed In West Bank In Clashes With Israeli Forces

The clashes erupted early on Monday?when Israeli troops entered Palestinian town Kafr Dan in the occupied West Bank. The deceased have been identified as Palestinian militant?Samer Houshiyeh?and civilian?Fouad Abed.

Al-Aqsa Brigades, a militant group linked?with Palestnian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, in a statement said that Houshiyeh was a member and?published an earlier photo of him?posing with rifles. Social media video showed Houshiyeh's?body wrapped with the armed group's flag as his mother and?mourners bid him farewell.

Director of Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, Samer Attiyeh, said that Houshiyeh was shot several times in the chest and confirmed that Abed was also killed. The?hospital official had said that Abed was 17,?while the Palestinian health ministry in a statement later?said Abed was 25.

On late Sunday, the Israeli military entered the town to demolish houses of the two Palestinian gunmen who?killed an Israeli soldier during a firefight in September 2022.

The?year 2022 was the deadliest in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 2006 as the Israel?military activities intensified with near-daily raids into Palestinian cities and towns, killing more than 150 Palestinians, including 30 children.?The Israeli army claims most of the Palestinians killed in the raids have been militants. However, stone-pelting youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed by the forces.

In the 1967 War, Israel captured the West Bank?along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip?and the Palestinians since seek and struggle for those territories demanding?a future state.

(With AP?inputs)