NABLUS, West Bank, Oct 29 (NNN-WAFA) – Thousands of angry and grieved mourners buried, yesterday afternoon, two Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
The two victims, identified as Imad Abu Rashid, 47, and Ramzi Za’abra, 35, were both from the Askar refugee camp in the east of Nablus, and officers in the Civil Defence of the Palestinian Authority, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
On Thursday night, Abu Rashid and Za’abra, along with a third Palestinian, who was critically injured, were driving past an Israeli army roadblock, when the Israeli soldiers opened fire at their car, said eyewitnesses and security sources.
An Israeli army spokesman said in a press statement that, an Israeli army force at the roadblock near the village of Huwara, south of Nablus, spotted two suspicious vehicles in the area and shot them, adding, some bullet casings were later found in search operations.
During the funeral, dozens of Palestinian gunmen fired into the air as an expression of anger, while social networking platforms were filled with pictures of Abu Rashid and Za’abra.
Muhammad Eassa, a neighbour of Abu Rashid and Za’abra, said that, the killing of the two represents a “shock and catastrophe for the camp’s residents.”
“The escalation of Israeli army practices and the difficult economic conditions increase the frustration of the Palestinians and push them to carry out reactive operations,” he said.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman of the Palestinian presidency, said in a statement that, Israel is blowing up the situation by continuing its policy of killing Palestinians, demanding Israel “immediately stop using Palestinian blood in its internal political polemics.”
He called on the international community, especially the United States, to immediately intervene and pressure Israel to stop its dangerous escalation against the Palestinians, “which will plunge the region into a cycle of violence and tension.”
Rajab Abu Sariya, a Palestinian writer and political analyst, said, the Israeli army has not achieved the “desired calm” in the West Bank, and its operations since March have not succeeded in breaking the “will to resist the occupation.”
“Continuing to show the bloody scene in West Bank cities, is an attempt to satisfy the Israeli electorate, and efforts to prevent the outcome of the Nov elections in favour of Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing camp, are still going on,” he said.– NNN-WAFA
