On Thursday evening, two Palestinian young men were killed after an alleged stabbing attack which killed an illegal Israeli colonizer near the Gush Etzion colonial bloc, south of Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Health Ministry announced that it was informed by the General Authority of Civil Affairs, that the two young men, Mahmoud Yousef Mohammad Abed, 23, and Malek Ismail Abdul Jabbar Salem, 23, were killed south of Bethlehem, adding that the army confiscated their bodies.
Media sources reported that the two young men were shot and killed near the Gush Etzion colonial bloc, built on Palestinian lands south of Bethlehem, after they allegedly carried out a stabbing and shooting operation, which resulted in the death of an illegal settler working as a security guard.
The ARAB 48 news website reported that the young men, Mahmoud Abed from Halhul town, north of Hebron, and Malek Salem from Bizzariya village, northwest of Nablus, were both members of the Palestinian police force.
The Times of Israel reported that the two young men were shot and killed by an off duty Israeli soldier and an armed colonizer after they allegedly carried out a stabbing and shooting attack which killed an Israeli settler.
The same source added that the accused young men purportedly stabbed an Israeli security guard outside a supermarket, before seizing his weapon and exchanging fire with the soldier and armed settler who killed them both at the scene.
The army described the operation as a “combined shooting and stabbing attack” which killed an Israeli colonizer, identified as Shalev Zvuluny, 22.
Meanwhile, a large army force stormed the town of Halhul on Thursday evening, and abducted the father of the slain Mahmoud Abed, after closing all the entrances to the town.
Media sources said that occupation forces invaded the family home of the slain Mahmoud Abed, while firing concussion grenades and tear gas canisters, and abducted the citizen, Youssef Abed, the father of the slain man.
Furthermore, the army invaded the village of Bizzariya, northwest of Nablus, on Thursday evening, imposing a curfew, and storming several citizens’ homes, including that of the Salem family.
According to Tayseer Farasin, the head of the Bizzariya village council, reported that Israeli forces invaded the village, imposed a curfew, and stormed many homes, assaulting their residents.
Farasin added that occupation soldiers invaded and ransacked the Salem family home and subjected the slain young man’s family to field interrogation.
Since the beginning of the year, Israeli forces and colonizers have killed 175 Palestinian citizens in the occupied West Bank, including 31 children and 6 women.
Occupation forces have killed 60 Palestinians in Jenin, 32 in Nablus, 26 in Tubas, 17 in Tulkarem, 12 in Hebron, 9 in Ramallah, 6 in Bethlehem, 5 in Jerusalem, 4 in Qalqilia, 3 in Salfit, and 1 in Jericho.
In the Gaza Strip, the overall death toll since October 7, 2023 has increased to 57,762, including women and children, while at least 137,656 Palestinians have sustained various degrees of injuries as a result of Israel’s military onslaught.
