Israeli military forces on Friday shot dead a Palestinian and injured 58 others in clashes across the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.
Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, identified the victim as Sami Shawqi Madhi, 41.
Mahdi was shot in the chest and died instantly during clashes near the al-Buriej refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, al-Qidra said.
Israeli forces opened fire at demonstrators along the border east of al-Bureij refugee camp and at the Nahal Oz crossing, where protesters set fire to tires.
Locals said Israeli snipers were deployed in the area.
There were also reports of clashes near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, and the Erez crossing in the north.
Al-Qidra told Ma’an that a total of 58 Palestinians were injured by live fire during Friday’s clashes in the besieged enclave, adding that at least 30 others suffered from severe tear-gas inhalation.
An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that “throughout the day, hundreds of Palestinians violently rioted along the Gaza Strip border near the security fence.”
The spokesperson said that after calling on the “rioters” to halt, Israeli forces opened fire “in order to stop the threat of infiltration” after “the rioters breached the buffer zone and attempted to damage the security fence.”
Separately, Israeli forces earlier in the day Friday shot dead two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Omar al-Hroub, 55, was shot and killed after an alleged attempted car ramming attack in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron’s Halhul village.
An Israeli army spokesperson said “a Palestinian attempted to ram his vehicle into [Israeli] security forces near Hebron,” adding that Israeli forces responded to the “imminent threat” and opened fire, killing the man.
Shortly after, Uday Irsheid, 24, was shot in the chest and critically wounded during clashes with Israeli military forces at the northern entrance to Hebron.
Irsheid later died from his injuries.
Uday’s 17-year-old sister, Dania, was shot and killed by Israeli forces in Hebron on Oct. 25 after the police said the teen attempted an attack on Israeli officers stationed at a checkpoint.
Witnesses said following Dania’s death that the 17-year-old did not have a knife in her possession at the time of her death, and Amnesty International criticized Israel for killing her in cold blood.
An escalation of violence that kicked off in October has left at least 118 Palestinians killed by Israeli military and settlers, and 19 Israelis killed in attacks carried out by Palestinian individuals.
The circumstances of several Palestinian deaths since Oct. 1 have been widely disputed by critics who say that Israel has implemented a “shoot-to-kill” policy against Palestinians.
The Executive Director of Israeli rights group B’Tselem, Hagai El-Ad, earlier this week said that the policy is being used against Palestinians who have already been “neutralized.”
“Spurred by senior politicians and backed by the prime minister and the weak lip-service paid by the attorney general, soldiers and police officers have become judge, jury and executioner,” El-Ad said in a statement.
The trend, accompanied by punitive home demolitions, restrictions on movement, and Israel’s withholding of bodies of Palestinians who have carried out attacks, have continued to stoke frustrations among the Palestinian public.
Palestinian leadership has called for international protection against Israeli violations, but concrete moves have yet to be taken.
(Maan)
