ISRAELI forces have shot and killed three young Palestinians during overnight raids on several areas of the occupied West Bank.
Two of the victims lost their lives when they were shot by Israeli police in the al-Fawqah neighbourhood of Tamra city, in the northern district of the occupied territories, late on Monday.
Al-Zahrawi Medical Centre stated that four people were injured, two of whom succumbed to serious gunshot wounds. The condition of the two others was described as serious.
Hundreds of Tamra residents demonstrated at the entrance to the city in the aftermath of the shootings, and closed Street 70 in a show of rage. Clashes then broke out between Palestinians and Israeli forces, who fired stun grenades as well as tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd.
Tamra municipality also held an emergency meeting, and a general strike was declared in the city, starting from yesterday. The development took place only hours after another Palestinian, 33-year-old Adham Fouad Bzeih, was shot and critically wounded in the city of Nazareth. He was rushed to hospital where medical staff pronounced him dead.
Also yesterday, two young Palestinian men were shot and injured by Israeli military forces during clashes in Kafr Malik town, located 17 kilometres north east of Ramallah. The Palestine al-Aan news agency reported that they were wounded by rubber-coated steel bullets.
Meanwhile, five Palestinian minors said yesterday they were severely beaten and tortured by Israeli soldiers and interrogators while in detention, reports the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.
It said it got affidavits from the five minors, who gave details of the beatings and torture they were subjected to at the hands of Israeli soldiers and security agents during their arrest and interrogation.
Mustafa Salameh, 17, was detained at his family home in Azzoun town, east of the northern West Bank city of Qalqilya. He was beaten with gun butts, smacked and kicked around, then thrown onto the floor of an army jeep as soldiers continually trampled on him with their army boots.
He said in his affidavit that he then lost consciousness and when he woke up he found himself in the Jalama Detention Centre where he was later interrogated for many hours while being tied to a chair. He was then moved to the Majeddo prison for minors.
Mohammad Zalloum, 17, was also detained at his family home in the Silwan neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem. He was dragged out of his house, severely punched in the stomach causing him to vomit, and then moved to the Asqalan Detention Centre where he was kept in the cells for 23 days, and severely beaten several times.
Hani Rmeilat, 17, from Jenin refugee camp in the north of the West Bank, was interrogated at the Jalama Detention Centre, assaulted with clubs by five prison guards causing bruising to his body which required hospitalisation in Israel, after which he was taken back to the Jalama prison where he was kept for 20 days before being moved to Majeddo prison.
Majd Waari, 17, from the Beit Hanina neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, underwent severe interrogation at the infamous Russian Compound Detention Centre in West Jerusalem for several hours while lashed to a small chair, smacked in the face and insulted.
Munir Arqoub, 17, from Kufr Ein, was detained at the Beit El military checkpoint north of Ramallah, attacked by three soldiers, thrown to the ground, beaten severely, then thrown into an army jeep before being taken to a nearby military base. He was taken the next day to Ofer military camp and Detention Centre for interrogation and then moved to Majeddo prison.
The Commission said Israel is holding 170 Palestinian minors in its prisons. Most of them were subjected to cruelty, abuse and brutality during their arrests.
Clearly, the arrival of President Biden to the US presidency has just convinced the Israeli terrorists that it remains ‘open season’ on Palestinians and that they can kill and maim them as they please.
Trade unions in the UK and the US must take immediate action to defend Palestinians from Israeli gangsters, including imposing a full boycott on all Israeli goods into the US and UK, and providing funds for arming the Palestinian resistance movements!
