Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli troopers in less than 24 hours in two different incidents at the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Israel fatally shot dead two Palestinians before dawn on Tuesday during a deadly raid at the Jenin refugee camp in the north of the West Bank.
Separately, the third deceased was killed near the entrance of Beit Fajar, south of West Bank city in Bethlehem, Palestinian Authority’s health ministry reported.
They were identified as Ammar Shafiq Abu Afifa from Arroub refugee camp, (Hebron) city, Abdullah al-Husari and Shadi Khaled Najm.
The Israeli military frequently carries out wide-ranging arrest campaigns across the occupied West Bank under the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians.
The raids are usually led to protests by the residents followed by daily fatal clashes.
Palestinian and international rights groups have long condemned what they say is the excessive use of force by Israeli forces.
B’Tselem, an Israeli rights group, said it had recorded 77 Palestinian deaths at the hands of Israeli forces in the West Bank last year. More than half of those killed were not implicated in any attacks, it added.
Last month, Amnesty International said in a new report that Israel was carrying out “the crime of apartheid against Palestinians” and must be held accountable for treating them as “an inferior racial group”.
Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war.
Israeli settlements built on Palestinian land are considered illegal under international law. Today, between 600,000 and 750,000 Israeli settlers live in at least 250 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
