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Photo:
Qusai Jamal Maatan (Qosai Jammal Mi'tan), 19. Published by IMEMC News and Haaretz

Young men carrying Qosai Jammal Mi'tan's body in a Ramallah hospital, on Friday. Credit: ALI SAWAFTA/Reuters Published by Haaretz

Scene. Published by IMEMC News
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by IMEMC News
Aug 4, 2023

Illegal Israeli colonizers shot and killed, on Friday evening, a Palestinian teenager with live ammunition during an invasion into Burqa town, east of Ramallah, in the central occupied West Bank, the Ministry of Health confirmed.

Local sources reported that large numbers of Israeli settlers invaded the town from the western and northwestern parts of the town, under the full protection of the Israeli occupation army.

Palestinian citizens attempted to confront the settler incursion, however there were greater numbers of settlers, with the security of the army.

The settlers attacked Palestinian residents, hurled rocks at them, and burned two Palestinian-owned vehicles in the town.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) announced that a Palestinian teenager was shot with live ammunition by a settler, however there are conflicting reports.

According to medical sources at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), its ambulance crews transported a critically injured youth to hospital stating that the youth was shot by the army.

The critically injured youth, identified by the MoH as Qusai Jamal Maatan, 19, was pronounced dead shortly after arrival to hospital.

It was added that at least two other Palestinian young men were injured by rocks, they were taken to hospital for medical intervention.

It is important to mention that the illegal colonizers brought sheep to the area, with the clear intention of establishing a colonial outpost for grazing their livestock.

This is a breaking story, any new information will be added as it becomes available.

At dawn Friday, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in the Nour Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarem, in the northwestern part of the occupied West Bank.

Israeli soldiers shot Mahmoud Abu Sa’an, 18, in the head with a live round, reportedly from a short distance, he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival to hospital.
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Israeli Settlers Arrested Over Suspected Killing of 19-year-old Palestinian

Two Israelis have been arrested for the death of 19-year-old Qosai Jammal Mi'tan, who was shot dead during clashes after armed settlers entered the village of Burqa, near Ramallah. One detained settler allegedly served as a spokesperson for an MK from Ben-Gvir's Otzmah Yehudit party

by Jack Khoury, Hagar Shezaf, and Yaniv Kubovich for Haaretz
Aug 4, 2023

Two Israeli settlers were arrested in relation to the killing of a 19-year-old Palestinian on Saturday, after clashes broke out between armed settlers and residents of the central West Bank village of Burqa on Friday night.

The Palestinian was identified as Qosai Jammal Mi'tan by the Palestinian Health Ministry, who said he was shot by the settlers. Four other Burqa residents were wounded in the clashes.

The army, police and other security forces are investigating the incident and released five suspects who were previously detained on suspicion of involvement.

A security official said that the two settlers who were arrested are far-right activists from the Ramat Migron outpost. According to the official, one worked as a spokesperson for a lawmaker in Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzmah Yehudit party, and was considered a central target of the Shin Bet security service. Police said he is suspected of obstructing the investigation and possessing a weapon without a license.

The other, who is suspected of shooting Mi'tan, is currently hospitalized in serious condition at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, after sustaining a head injury during the incident.

Residents of Burqa told Haaretz that the incident began around 6:30 P.M., when settlers arrived at the western part of the village with around 40 sheep, and started vandalizing property.

The settlers were armed, according to Burqa resident Ahmed Barakat, and they first began throwing stones before firing at the villagers. According to Barakat, the incident lasted around three hours, until Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene.

According to the Israeli military, a preliminary investigation shows that the settlers arrived near Burqa in the evening to herd their sheep. At this point, Palestinians from the village came out to chase the settlers away, which is when the clashes, including the stone throwing, began. During these confrontations, some of the settlers opened fire; in addition to Mi'tan, four other Palestinians were wounded.

Some of the settlers were wounded by the stone throwing, the IDF's statement said, and a Palestinian vehicle was set ablaze. Following the clashes, the site was declared a closed military zone.

The Israel Police, who are investigating the incident alongside the Shin Bet, said that they are having difficulty carrying out their duties, as the Palestinian authorities will not cooperate with it, and Mi'tan's body has not been transferred to them for examination. At the same time, they said that there were witnesses to the shooting.

The police also said that one of the settlers they arrested, the one who is not hospitalized, guided the detectives to the weapon used in the killing, after he is suspected to have hidden it.

Israeli security officials fear the incident will further exacerbate security tensions in the West Bank.

The local mayor, Ibrahim Ma'tan, told Haaretz that settler attacks are not unusual. According to him, the residents' reaction was natural in light of the settlers' aggression. "The youths and residents went out to defend their land with their bodies, but the settlers were armed and opened fire, it's murder and aggression."

Opposition leader Yair Lapid released a statement saying that the "Hilltop youth are turning the West Bank into a battleground between the terror of Jewish terrorists and the terror of Arab terrorists. This endangers settlements, most of which are law-abiding civilians, endangers our soldiers, and harming innocent people is contrary to Jewish and democratic values."

The U.K. Embassy in Israel called "for accountability and justice for those involved," saying it was appalled by the settler attacks, in a Twitter post.

"The backing they receive from within the most extremist coalition in the history of the country is a political attack," he added.

Buildings in the Oz Zion outpost, from which a defense official said the settlers arrived to Burqa, are built on private Palestinian land. Recently, the Israeli Civil Administration requested that these buildings be removed. Their request was refused by the Defense Ministry's settlement administration, which is under the control of far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also minister in the Defense Ministry.

Early Friday, an 18-year-old Palestinian militant was shot dead in an exchange of gunfire with IDF soldiers in the West Bank city of Tul Karm. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the military arm of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, said one of its members, Muhammad Abu Sa’an, was killed. The Israeli military said that soldiers identified suspects who had opened fire and threw explosives and stones at them, and responded with gunfire.

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