Palestinians Mourn Two Men Killed by Israeli Forces During West Bank Raids

A funeral was held on Friday, January 13, for two Palestinian men who the Palestinian health ministry said were fatally shot by Israeli forces during raids in the West Bank on Thursday evening.

The health ministry named the dead as 25-year-old Habib Kamil and 18-year-old Abdel Hadi Nazal both from the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said security forces entered Qabatiya to arrest a Muhammad Alawneh, a Palestinian man accused of planning attacks. When Alawneh and another suspect tried to flee, Israeli soldiers shot at them, the IDF said.

The Israel forces were then fired upon by a gunman in a vehicle who was armed with an M-16 rifle, the IDF said. Israeli soldiers returned fire, striking the suspect, and then confiscated the rifle, they said. A number of Palestinians then throw stones at Israeli forces, who responded by shooting the “main troublemaker”, the IDF said.

No Israeli soldiers were hurt during the raid, the IDF added.

The Palestinian health ministry said three other people were wounded in the raid.

The Times of Israel reported that “it was not clear if the two slain Palestinians were involved in the gunfire, the violent riots, or if one of them was the second suspect that initially fled with Alawneh.”

According to Al-Jazeera Arabic, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades announced on its Telegram page that it was engaged in “an armed clash with a force of the Zionist enemy army in the town of Qabatiya in Jenin.”

This footage from the funeral procession, filmed by the Quds News Network in Jenin, shows people marching and chanting while carrying the bodies of the two men. Multiple gunshots are heard being fired into the air.

Nine Palestinians, including three children, had been killed in West Bank since the start of the year, the Palestinian health ministry said. Credit: Quds News Network via Storyful