Military

Five Palestinians Killed in West Bank in Two Days

JAN 12 2023·Updated JAN 16 2023

Story

Image credit: Jerusalem Post

The Facts

Palestinian officials have accused the Israeli army of killing a Palestinian man in an East Jerusalem refugee camp early on Thursday as he stood on his roof with some family members during an Israeli raid. He was the third Palestinian to be killed in 24 hours.
Al Jazeera
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that an Israeli sniper shot Sameer Aslan — a 41-year-old father of eight and resident of the Qalandiya refugee camp — about 10 minutes after his teenage son was arrested by the Israeli army from their home.
Al Jazeera
The Israeli army also shot dead Ahmed Abu Junaid during a pre-dawn raid in the Balata refugee camp, located in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Elsewhere, Sanad Samamreh was killed by an Israeli passer-by after stabbing another Israeli at a settlement in the southern West Bank near Hebron.
The Associated Press
Throughout the same 24-hour period, Israeli forces arrested over 17 people — 15 were detained during the raid in the Qalandiya camp. Later on Thursday, Habib Kamil and Abd al-Hadi Fakhri Nazzal were shot and killed and three others Palestinians injured in renewed clashes.
The Jerusalem Post
The Israeli military said that it had been carrying out arrests and confiscating weapons throughout the West Bank, resulting in armed clashes across the territory. Palestinians generally consider these raids to be a form of collective punishment.
Reuters
Israeli military raids have surged since last March, following a wave of Palestinian attacks within Israel that killed 19 Israelis. B’Tselem, an Israeli human-rights group, has reported that at least 146 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces in 2022 in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, making it the most deadly year for Palestinians since 2004.
The Associated Press

Sources Split

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The Spin

Pro-Palestine narrative

As Israel expands its near-daily raids into the West Bank, more and more Palestinians are dying. Sameer Aslan was a father simply trying to protect his son from Israeli occupation forces, but he was, of course, murdered in cold blood. Last year was the most deadly twelve months for Palestinians since the Second Intifada, in which Israel brutally cracked down on Palestinian resistance to occupation. The international community cannot allow Israel to continue carrying out these crimes.

Middle East Eye

Pro-Israel narrative

Though it is tragic when innocent bystanders are killed, the fault for such losses ultimately falls on Palestinian militancy and terrorism, which has survived through its use of the civilian population as a shield. At least two of those killed this week were terrorists, and, unfortunately, had to be neutralized so Israeli forces could carry out their mission and keep civilians safe. Indeed, the only reason raids in the West Bank have expanded over the last year is due to Palestinian terrorism in Israel.