On Sunday evening, the Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the death of two Palestinians who were shot after Israeli soldiers opened fire at their car near the northern entrance of Salfit, in the central West Bank, and prevented Palestinian medics from approaching them.
The two were kidnapped by a paramilitary Israeli colonizer and managed to escape before the soldiers killed them when they accidentally entered Ariel illegal colony.
The Health Ministry said the soldiers killed Odai Nizar Nimir Abu Na’sa (Troush), 27, and Mos’ab Hassan Ali Moqasqas, 17, before taking their corpses to an unknown location.
The Israeli army claimed the two Palestinians drove a car into oncoming traffic, hitting vehicles while trying to ram into a military post.
Israeli National News claimed that the vehicle driven by the two Palestinians collided with other cars “and attempted to ram soldiers operating in the area, lightly wounding one,” before the soldiers “eliminated the two.”
It added that one soldier was mildly injured before he was taken to a medical center to receive medical treatment.
In a voicemail recording refuting the Israeli allegations and justifications for their murder, Odai said that a colonizer kidnapped him and Mosab, and they managed to run away. However, they accidentally drove into the area of Ariel illegal colony and could not find a way out.
“Please forgive us if anything happened to us,” Odai said, “The colonizer kidnapped us and took us to Ariel, we escaped… they are chasing us, and now we are in Ariel, don’t know what to do or where to go…”
The recording also indicates that the two were taken from Jenin by someone they thought was from historic Palestine, before they found out he was a paramilitary colonizer who kidnapped them before they ran away and accidentally entered Ariel.
Israel has now killed 644 Palestinians, including 148 children, in the occupied West Bank, since October 7, 2023.
