During Monday’s early dawn hours Israeli settlers shot and killed a man, and injured his son south of Nablus in the West Bank.
Palestinian security sources report that the Qalqilia area Hableh Village residents were passing through Dooma Village south of Nablus. Israeli settlers opened fire on 48 year old Husein Mardawi and his 19 year old son Dean. The father was killed and his son was injured.
As all Israeli settlements in the West Bank exist in direct contravention to international law, the crime is even more egregious. All settlements are constructed on lands that were illegally annexed and confiscated from their Palestinian owners.
Palestinian medical sources at Nablus’ Rafidiya Hospital report that the elder Mardawi received a bullet directly in the heart. Settlers are often heavily armed, just as are the soldiers in and around settlements. Mardawi’s teenage son is now in Rafidiya with moderate injuries, according to hospital sources.
PNN learned that Mardawi and his son were residents of the northwestern West Bank Qalqilia District village of Hableh and were passing through Dooma Village en route transporting vegetables as was their livelihood. Mardawi was the father of eight.
A local journalist pointed out that several Israeli settlements loom over the road the Palestinians must pass through to reach one West Bank town from another.
Details of the attack include that the Israeli shooters were driving a car with the yellow Israeli license plates, while the delivery truck sported the white Palestinian plates.
The settlers took direct aim at the elder Husein who was driving the delivery truck and also hit his son at close range as they fired from left to right. The Israeli settlers sped away quickly after killing the Palestinian man and injuring his son.
Palestinian security sources speculated Monday morning that the shooting is part and parcel to the Israeli war against Lebanon that Hezbollah is fighting back against, which has led to dozens of Israeli deaths and hundreds of Lebanese deaths. Others suggest that it is due to an Israeli settler recently found dead.
However, the media must keep its collective memory and not blame all current Israeli attacks against this latest spate of aggression as Israeli settlers are well-documented to attack Palestinians inside the West Bank from its furthest reaches south in Hebron to the most northern West Bank district of Jenin.
