Health team members carry an injured Palestinian during Israeli intervention on the protest within the “Great March of Return” demonstrations at Al Bureij Refugee Camp in Gaza City, Gaza, yesterday.
RAMALLAH: Israel arrested dozens of Hamas activists in the West Bank, and a Palestinian was killed in clashes with troops, as the Israeli military pressed ahead yesterday with a crackdown following a pair of deadly shootings blamed on Hamas.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said that Mahmoud Nakhla, 18, was shot in the abdomen and died at medical center in Ramallah, as Israeli soldiers clashed with dozens of Palestinians throwing rocks. Earlier yesterday, Israeli forces arrested dozens of Hamas activists in the West Bank as the army intensified a crackdown a day after Palestinian assailants killed two soldiers in an attack on a bus stop.
In a fresh wave of violence, an Israeli soldier was severely wounded by a Palestinian assailant who attacked him with a rock, while Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinian demonstrators outside Ramallah, the military said.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, Jewish settlers beat up a Palestinian bus driver, the man’s family said, while Palestinian Authority forces violently broke up a demonstration by supporters of the rival Hamas movement.
Yesterday’s unrest came a day after a Palestinian gunman opened fire at a West Bank bus stop, killing two soldiers before speeding away in a vehicle. Israel responded by setting up checkpoints, closing roads and beefing up security in a broad manhunt for the assailant. Earlier in the week, another Palestinian gunman carried out a similar drive-by shooting outside a nearby settlement, wounding seven people. A Hamas official said some 100 members of the group, including lawmakers and other senior figures, were arrested this week, including 70 arrested overnight and throughout the day yesterday.
As Israel was burying the soldiers killed in Thursday’s shooting, another soldier was severely wounded near a West Bank settlement after a Palestinian struck him in the head with a rock, knocking him unconscious, the military said. The army said it appeared the soldier was also stabbed. It said Israeli forces were searching for the suspect. Elsewhere in the West Bank, a group of Israelis beat up a Palestinian bus driver, Nidal Sake, near a West Bank settlement late on Thursday, Israeli police said.
Thaer Sake, the bus driver’s brother, said that a group of Jewish teenagers blocked the bus with their car and forced themselves on board, striking the driver several times before fleeing, according to his brother’s account. He said his Nidal remained hospitalised yesterday with severe bruises and a broken eye socket. Police said they were investigating and trying to find the perpetrators.
Yesterday afternoon, street clashes erupted between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli forces outside Ramallah, with protesters slinging rocks and Israeli soldiers responding with tear gas and stun grenades to break up the crowd. The Palestinian Healthy Ministry said two protesters were wounded by bullets, one critically.
The tensions also spilled over into internal Palestinian fighting in the volatile West Bank city of Hebron, where some 50 activists waving Hamas flags in celebration of the group’s 31st anniversary confronted Palestinian Authority forces and blocked traffic following noon prayers. Palestinian police harshly beat Hamas activists with clubs, injuring five and arresting 15.
