2 Palestinians Martyred after stabbing ’Israeli’ soldier in Huwwara

Local Editor

Two Palestinians were shot dead after stabbing an "Israeli" soldier in the village of Huwwara south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, locals and "Israeli" regime's army said.

An "Israeli" army spokesperson indicated that two Palestinians stabbed and wounded a soldier before "Israeli" forces on site opened fire, resulting in the death of both who performed the operation.

The spokesperson said that initial reports suggested that an additional soldier was injured as a result of fire directed towards the Palestinians.

One "Israeli" soldier received stab wounds to the face, while the other was injured by a gunshot wound to the leg, according to "Israeli" media. Both soldiers were evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment.

Locals identified the Palestinians as Muhammad Rafiq Hussien Sabana,17, and Noor al-Deen Muhammad Abdul-Qadir Sabana, 23.

The Huwwara area -- particularly the military checkpoint next to the village -- had been site to frequent aggression of "Israeli" military and settlers upon local Palestinians in recent months.

"Israeli" forces on Sunday shot dead 56-year-old Maher al-Jabi at the Huwwara military checkpoint after he ran his vehicle into soldiers, lightly injuring one.

Last week, the forces shot and martyred a 15-year-old from the Nablus-area village of Beit Furik after he reportedly drew a knife on soldiers at the checkpoint.

Weeks before, two 16-year-old Palestinians were shot dead at the checkpoint, one of whom was run over and shot by an "Israeli" settler after he said she was attempting to carry out an attack.

However, no "Israelis" were injured in any of the incidents.

Such incidents had become near-daily since Oct. 1, with 12 Palestinians martyred in the last week alone.

Two Palestinians martyred in the last week were shot dead during clashes with "Israeli" military forces, while the rest were martyred by forces during operations on "Israeli" military and settlers.

Israeli authorities meanwhile had launched a crackdown in response to the escalation, promoting a "shoot-to-kill" policy against Palestinians as well as a series of harsh measures throughout the occupied territory that rights groups had termed collective punishment.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team