An Israeli border policeman prevents medics from evacuating a wounded Palestinian protester who was shot by border police during clashes in Bethlehem yesterday. The protester, who was moderately injured, was detained and later released by the border police.
Agencies
Bethlehem
Israeli soldiers shot dead a 19-year-old Palestinian during a raid at a refugee camp in the West Bank town of Bethlehem yesterday, Palestinian medics said.
They identified him as Malek Shahin, but the reason for the raid at the Dheisheh refugee camp was not yet clear.
According to the Israeli army, soldiers entering Dheisheh were targeted with pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails.
“Forces fired warning shots into the air in order to disperse the mob and prevent an escalation of violence,” a military spokeswoman said.
She could not confirm the death of the Palestinian but said the military was looking into it.
Afterwards clashes erupted at Aida, another camp in Bethlehem, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Since October 1, almost daily attacks and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers have killed 112 on the Palestinian side, 17 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean.
Many of the Palestinians killed have been attackers, while others have been shot dead by Israeli security forces during clashes.
In East Jerusalem, an American tourist was lightly wounded yesterday by stone-throwers. Israeli police said a 16-year-old Palestinian was arrested in connection with the incident but later released.
And a 26-year-old Palestinian suspected of carrying out a knife attack in October near the West Bank city of Nablus was arrested overnight, according to Israel’s Shin Bet security service.
Bassel Mahmud Abu Ali, who was wounded in the October 30 attack but managed to escape, was arrested in Ramallah, according to Shin Bet.
Young Palestinians have grown frustrated with Israel’s occupation and the complete lack of progress in peace efforts in addition to their own fractured leadership.
International condemnation of Israel’s actions in the occupied territory has also intensified and foreign powers have expressed concern over what they say is excessive use of force.
Relations between Sweden and Israel deteriorated further on Sunday after Israel said Sweden’s foreign minister had accused it of unlawful killings and Stockholm responded by saying that the comments had been “blown out of reasonable proportion”.
On Saturday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said settlement-building raised questions about Israel’s long-term intentions.
Israel said yesterday that customs officers seized a shipment of dolls bound for Palestinian stores that were masked in keffiyeh scarves and holding fake stones in their hands.
The customs authority said in a statement that the cargo of 4,000 dolls shipped from the United Arab Emirates to the Israeli port of Haifa was meant to “incite against Israel”.
“These were dolls in the colours of the Palestinian flag and bearing the slogans ‘Jerusalem is for us’ and ‘Jerusalem we are coming’,” the statement said.
It said they were in a container marked “clothing, carpets and plastic products”. It did not say when they were intercepted.
“Customs will continue its day-to-day work in preventing smuggling to Israel with special emphasis on the smuggling of arms and blocking entry of material for incitement, particularly at the present time,” the statement said.
