JERUSALEM // Israeli forces on Thursday shot and killed two Palestinians, the latest in a string of clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron.
In recent days, Hebron has become a focus of clashes following six weeks of Israeli-Palestinian violence. The city, where several hundred Jewish settlers live in illegal, fortified enclaves amid tens of thousands of Palestinians, is a frequent flashpoint of unrest.
The Palestinians were killed near the settlements. A Palestinian woman in the area at the time told the Palestinian Ma’an news agency that she “heard gunshots and saw Israeli soldiers and settlers firing at a young Palestinian man while he was walking down a staircase,” adding that she did not see anything in his hands.
The other Palestinian was killed after allegedly stabbing an Israeli soldier in the head, wounding him lightly, and then attempted to stab another security officer before Israeli forces killed him. The Palestinian approached soldiers at a checkpoint as clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops erupted nearby, police said.
Palestinians have repeatedly accused the army of using unnecessary or excessive force, a charge that Israel denies.
Along with clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops, Hebron has also been the scene of several stabbing attacks by Palestinians.
The current wave of violence began in mid-September in Jerusalem amid tensions over a sensitive holy site and quickly spread deeper into Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Eleven Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks. In that time, 58 Palestinians have been killed, 38 said by Israel to be attackers, the remainder killed in clashes with Israeli troops.
Also Thursday, Israel’s Justice Ministry said an Arab woman who was shot after brandishing a knife at a busy bus station did not intend to carry out an attack.
Asraa Abed, 29, was surrounded by Israeli forces and then shot after she drew a knife at a bus station in northern Israel earlier this month. Israel’s justice ministry said an investigation determined the woman was mentally unstable and suicidal and had pulled out the knife to be shot and killed. Ms Abed, who survived the shooting, was indicted Thursday for carrying a knife.
The incident was caught on video, which showed her slowly waving the knife before she is surrounded and shot. P
alestinians have cited the incident in their claims that Israel has used excessive force during the current spate of violence.
In Jerusalem, Israeli police said they used stun grenades to disperse about 100 people protesting outside a hospital in the city’s eastern sector on Thursday. The protesters were demonstrating against Israeli police who during the unrest have entered the hospital to seize files related to Palestinians wounded in clashes.
* Associated Press