Israeli forces assassinated two Palestinian young men and injured another, on Tuesday, after bombing their vehicle near the entrance to Aqaba town, north of Tubas in the northeastern part of the West Bank.
Additionally, the army invaded the Turkish Governmental Hospital in Tubas, shot a citizen, assaulted medical staff, and abducted five members of the medical team.
Media sources reported that the slain young men, identified as Karam Hatem Mohammed Abu Ara, 38, and Mohamed Samih Kamel Ghanem, 35, were executed and another young man was injured when an armed Israeli drone fired a missile at their vehicle near the entrance to the town of Aqaba.
In a statement, the Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the execution of two young men and the moderate injury of another with injuries to the lower extremities as a result of a drone strike, adding that they were all transported to the Tubas Turkish Governmental Hospital.
The Arab 48 News website quoted the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) who stated that “the occupation forces are preventing ambulances from reaching the vehicle that they bombed in the town of Aqaba in Tubas.”
The same source added that soldiers opened fire with live ammunition towards ambulances near the bombing site and stated that the army shot a visitor inside the Tubas Turkish Governmental Hospital; his condition was not known at the time of writing this report.
The Health Ministry also confirmed that “the occupation forces are shooting at residents who tried to reach the site of the vehicle bombing,” and added that armed resistance fighters confronted the attacking army with live rounds.
Later, occupation forces stormed the Tubas Turkish Governmental Hospital, assaulted hospital staff and opened fire with live rounds, causing damage, before abducting five medical professionals.
According to Haitham Al-Hadari, the Director General of Hospitals at the Ministry of Health, the army severely assaulted the head of the Emergency Department, Dr. Mohammad Ghanem, after surrounding and invading the hospital.
Al-Hadari added that Israeli soldiers rounded up hospital staff, interrogated them, and abducted five members of the medical team, including the General Director of the hospital, Mohammad Samara.
The Arab 48 News website reported that occupation forces opened fire in the vicinity of the hospital and inside the Emergency Department, and threatened Palestinian journalists, pointing their weapons at them, adding that resistance fighters exchanged fire with the invading army.
After the withdrawal of the military, large crowds of citizens gathered in front of the Tubas Turkish Governmental Hospital to bid farewell to the slain young men, Karam Hatem Abu Ara and Mohammad Samih Ghanem.
Mourners marched the streets of Tubas, carrying the bodies of the slain young men on their shoulders, arriving in Aqaba town where loved ones paid their respects, before citizens buried their dead in the town’s cemetery.
The Palestinian Health Ministry released the following statement; “We condemn the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of Tubas Governmental Hospital, besieging it, firing and throwing bombs inside it, and assaulting personnel and patients, and arresting a number of them.”
The Ministry called upon the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and international institutions and the International Committee of the Red Cross to put an end to the Israeli forces’ attacks on hospitals and their staff, adding that these attacks are blatant violations of all international agreements, charters, and humanitarian laws.
Since the beginning of the Israeli military onslaught against the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have killed 803 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 168 children, and injured 6,450.
The distribution of those killed in the West Bank is as follows; 222 in Jenin, 182 in Tulkarem, 86 in Nablus, 76 in Hebron, 64 in Tubas, 59 in Ramallah, 48 in occupied Jerusalem, 30 in Qalqilia, 20 in Bethlehem, 12 in Jericho, 12 inside Israel, and 4 in Salfit.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have killed 44,502 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, most of whom are women and children, and injured 105,454 citizens, while the bodies of thousands of citizens remain buried under the rubble of the devastated coastal enclave.
