Palestinian killed in West Bank village of Turmus Ayya in Israeli raid

A Palestinian man was killed on 21 June in an occupied West Bank village of Turmus Ayya, the Palestinian health ministry said, as Israelis attacked residents and property.

The violence comes hours after mourners held a funeral for a teenager killed in a Palestinian shooting targeting Israelis nearby. Meanwhile, Palestinians buried a girl killed in an Israeli raid.

A health ministry statement said:

A martyr arrived at the Palestine Medical Complex from Turmus Ayya after being shot in the chest.

A resident of Turmus Ayya told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that around “200 settlers” attacked the village. AFP journalists saw scorched homes, buildings, and ambulances evacuating wounded people.

Resident Awad Abu Samra stated that:

Settlers shot at us and when the police and the Israeli army arrived they shot at us with rubber bullets and fired tear gas.

Schoolgirls carry body

In Jenin, girls in school uniform carried the body of their classmate killed in an Israeli army raid on the city on 19 June. 15-year-old Sadil Naghnaghiya died from gunshot wounds suffered during the hours-long Israeli incursion. The attackers killed six other Palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy. The Canary reported:

The Israeli military’s assault on Jenin included snipers and at least 120 armoured vehicles, as well as the air attacks. The Palestinian Red Crescent said that Israeli forces directly attacked ambulances.

A spokesman for the Palestinian group Hamas, Hazem Qassem, described 20 June’s attack against Israelis as a “response to the crimes of the (Israeli) occupation” in Jenin and elsewhere.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967. Excluding annexed East Jerusalem, the territory is now occupied by around 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements considered illegal under international law.

Settler reprisals

The deadly shooting sparked reprisal attacks on 20 June by Israeli settlers against residents of the nearby Palestinian town of Huwara, its mayor and a resident told AFP. Huwara was also the site of brutal settler violence earlier in 2023, which saw one Palestinian man killed, settlers assaulting Palestinians, and vandalising their homes and vehicles, while guarded by the Israeli military.

Witnesses reported other settler attacks in the evening. These affected Al-Lubban al-Sharqiya, near Eli settlement, and Beit Furik, another town in the northern West Bank.

Yaacoub Aweiss, head of the Al-Lubban al-Sharqiya town council, said:

The destruction includes more than 10 homes, more than three commercial stores, this petrol station, the wheat field and many trees.

Israel often knocks down the homes of Palestinians it blames for deadly attacks on Israelis. It argues that such measures act as a deterrent. Human rights activists say the policy amounts to collective punishment. It often renders non-combatants, including children, homeless.

Additional reporting via Agence France-Presse

Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Ghanem88, resized to 1910 x 1000.