Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians near a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Saturday.
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Now in its fourth month, the wave of bloodshed has raised fears of wider escalation a decade after the last Palestinian uprising subsided.
Forces further set up military checkpoints at the entrances of Hebron’s towns of Sa’ir and Halhoul and at the city’s northern entrance, stopping Palestinian registered cars and checking the identity cards of passengers, which caused a traffic jam. Ahmad, 19, ‘Alaa, 19, and Muhannad Kawazba, 18, had been shot dead after they purportedly attempted to stab Israeli soldiers at Gush Etzion junction.
The two Palestinian men, aged 23 and 38, were believed to be from villages south of Jenin.
The Israeli army alleged the men had tried to stab soldiers manning the checkpoint, but witnesses said they did not see the pair wielding knives. At the same time, amid rain storms and bitterly cold weather, violent clashes broke out between Israeli forces and tens of Palestinian youths who came to the area around the house and clashed with the soldiers.
Mohamed Kawazbeh, the brother of one of those killed, described them as “four martyr heroes”. He was subsequently killed by an Israeli security guard.
Twenty-two Israelis, an American and an Eritrean have been killed in Palestinian attacks including stabbings, vehicle rammings and gunfire targeting security forces and civilians since October 1.
That number will rise if authorities deem a January 1 Tel Aviv shooting that killed three people as a pro-Palestinian attack.
“The assessment forming is that this was a nationalistic terrorist attack”, Erdan told Channel Two News.
Israel often retains the bodies of Palestinians killed during alleged attacks, a measure that has drawn criticism from rights groups as well as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
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Tensions in the occupied territories have dramatically escalated since the Israeli regime’s imposition of restrictions in August on the entry of Palestinian worshipers to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds.
