Israeli forces Tuesday night killed a municipal employee near Beita town, south of Nablus city, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Israeli troops gunned down Shadi Omar Lotfi Salim, 41, near the entrance of the town, which has become a scene of weekly protests against decades of Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid.
The soldiers used an ambulance to evacuate Salim’s body, which is still withheld by the occupation authorities.
“He was killed in cold blood”…
Palestinian man heading home was killed late Tuesday in Israeli gunfire in occupied West Bank
Shadi Omar Lotfi Salim, 41, was shot dead near the flashpoint Palestinian village of Beita, the Palestinian health ministry said https://t.co/qSQPO0uKIj
— Randa HABIB (@RandaHabib) July 28, 2021
Although there had been no protests in the area Tuesday night, the Israeli military claimed that Salim “approached the soldiers in a menacing manner while holding what appeared to be an iron bar” before being gunned down.
Member of Beita Municipality, Abdul-Mun‘im Issa, said that Salim, a municipal water technician, went to open the pipes that supply water to Beita and other adjacent areas before being gunned down.
The Israeli water company of Mekorot, which has a monopoly on the excavation, restoration, distribution and selling of water, allocates minimal water to Palestinian villages and cities in contrast to generous quantities to settlers in the West Bank.
The community of #Beita in the West Bank fights back tonight after a Palestinian man was murdered by Israeli Occupation Forces. Omar Salim was shot dead this evening whilst on his way home from work. Solidarity with the people of Beita ✊🏽 #FreePalestine
— GhostofDurruti (@RobTheRich0001) July 27, 2021
The villagers of Beita have been protesting the building of the new settlement outpost of Givat Eviatar atop Jabal Sabih (Sabih Mountain), near the town, and the pillage of their land in defiance of Israeli and international law.
The number of settlers living in Jewish-only colonial settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law has jumped to over 700,000 and Jewish settlement expansion has tripled since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.
(WAFA, PC, Social Media)
