News outlets are reporting on Israel’s Monday attack on the Palestinian city of Jenin, but no one has been talking about the consistent shedding of Palestinian blood in the West Bank since the attack on Gaza in May.
by Kathryn Shihadah
News outlets can’t ignore a major incident – like Israel’s Monday attack on the Palestinian city of Jenin in which 5 Palestinians were killed (one more died of his wounds today), or the attack on Gaza May 9-13 (in which at least 33 Gazans and 1 Israeli were killed). The small-scale events often go by without comment. Americans need to know how Israel is spending our tax dollars to kill Palestinians. Time for a rundown of the latest brutality in the West Bank.
Monday, Jenin & Bethlehem
According to IMEMC, the International Middle East Media Center, Israeli soldiers killed five Palestinians (including two teens) in the Palestinian city of Jenin, and injured at least 100, of which 23 have life-threatening wounds. The dead are Ahmad Khaled Daraghma, 19, Ahmad Yousef Saqer, 15, Khaled Azzam Asa’sa, 21, Qassam Faisal Abu Seriyya, 29, and Qais Majdi Adel Jabarin, 21. Amjad Aref Al-Ja’as, 48, died of his wounds today.
At least 3 of the injured were shot in the head, neck, or chest.
The Israeli invasion of Jenin involved undercover Israeli soldiers, along with dozens of military helicopters and dozens of armored military vehicles. The helicopters fired missiles at Palestinian strongholds, deployed snipers on rooftops, and exchanged fire with Palestinian resistance fighters.
The Israeli army also shot at Palestinian ambulances, rammed into at least one ambulance as it was transporting the wounded, and shot at medics as they tried to approach wounded Palestinians.
Israeli soldiers also shot live rounds at many journalists, hitting at least one in the abdomen, invaded and ransacked the homes of many Palestinians, and fired gas bombs, and concussion grenades.
An Israeli spokesperson said 5 soldiers were injured, one seriously; they were airlifted to safety by a military helicopter.
Israeli soldiers also invaded Husan village, west of Bethlehem, and shot Zakariya Mohammad Za’oul, 20, dead with a bullet in the head.
Other West Bank Palestinian deaths in June
June 15, 2023: In the Palestinian city of Nablus, Israeli soldiers killed Khalil Yahia Anis, 20, and injured about 185 Palestinians, 3 of whom suffered life-threatening wounds. The attack came as Israeli military personnel demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of killing an Israeli (such home demolition is a violation of international law).
June 13, 2023: Israeli soldiers killed a mentally disabled young man, Fares Abdul-Mon’em Mohammad Hashash, 19, and injured 8 Palestinians, including a child, in Nablus. Again, Israel refused Palestinian ambulances access to the wounded.
June 09, 2023: Israeli soldiers killed Mahdi Samir Mohammad Bayadsa, 29, claiming he tried to grab one soldier’s weapon at a military checkpoint. One soldier was lightly injured; Bayadsa was shot to death.
June 05, 2023: Israeli soldiers shot Mohammad Haitham Tamimi, 3, in the head, and his father in the shoulder. The two were hit as Israeli soldiers attacked a nearby car, spraying live rounds randomly in the area.
May deaths in West Bank (during and after Israel’s attack on Gaza, May 9-13)
May 29, 2023: Israeli soldiers killed Ashraf Mohammad Amin Ibrahim, 38, in Jenin after shooting him with expanding bullets in the chest and abdomen. The victim had already spent 10 years as a political prisoner, and was about to get married.
May 26, 2023: Israeli soldiers killed Ala’ Khalil Qaisiyya, 26 after he allegedly attempted a stabbing attack near a synogogue in Hebron. The Israelis who live in Hebron are violating international law.
May 22, 2023: In Nablus, Israeli soldiers killed Abdullah Yousef Mohammad Abu Hamdan, 24, Mohammad Bilal Zeitoun, 32, and Fathi Jihad Abdul-Salem Rezeq, 30, as part of a raid on the city.
May 15, 2023: Israeli soldiers killed Saleh Mohammad Saleh Sabra, 22, when they invaded the refugee camp where he lived near Nablus. The soldiers “ransacked many homes [then] fired a barrage of live rounds, rubber-coated steel bullets, and gas bombs.”
May 13, 2023: Israeli soldiers killed Ahmad Mohammad Taiseer Atatra, 30, near Jenin, after they claimed he tried to carry out a stabbing attack. They shot at least 30 rounds at him. The incident occurred near the illegal Israeli colony of Shaked, which was built on Palestinian land.
May 13, 2023: Israeli soldiers killed Adnan Wasim Yousef Al-A’raj, 19, Saed Jihad Shaker Mesha, 32, after shooting both of them in the head during an invasion of the refugee camp where they lived near Nablus.
May 10, 2023: Israeli soldiers killed Rani Walid Ahmad Qotnat, 24, and Ahmad Jamal Assaf, 19, during a large invasion of their town near Jenin. After the two were shot, medics were blocked from assisting them.
For a complete list of Palestinians and Israelis killed since 2000, please visit Israel-Palestine Timeline
NOTE: The entire West Bank has been under Israeli occupation since 1967; all its official entrances and exits are controlled by Israeli soldiers, making its Palestinian inhabitants virtual prisoners. Many are families that were ethnically cleansed from Israel during Israel’s founding war (see this and this and this) and its 1967 war. Israeli forces often invade them; one example is here.
Israel was established in 1947 through a war of ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population, both Muslims and Christians, and it continues to steal other people’s land for illegal colonies known as ‘settlements.’ While Palestinians most often use nonviolent resistance, a small number use armed resistance against the invaders.
Thanks to the pro-Israel lobby in the US, Congress disburses over $20 million per day of Americans’ tax money directly to and/or on behalf of Israel.
Kathryn Shihadah is an editor and staff writer for If Americans Knew. She also blogs at Palestine Home.
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