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Photo:
One of the cars set alight in the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan in the West Bank, on Saturday. Credit: Qarawat Bani Hassan village council. Published by Haaretz

Ahmed Moustafa Assi. Published by Haaretz

An Israeli military vehicle sands alongside masked individuals near the West Bank village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, on Saturday.
Credit: Qarawat Bani Hassan village council Published by Haaretz

Damage done to one of the homes at Qarawat Bani Hassan in the West Bank, on Saturday. Credit: Qarawat Bani Hassan village council Published by IMEMC News
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Footage obtained by Haaretz shows settlers, some of them masked, alongside Israeli soldiers near torched property in a West Bank village in which a man's body was found hours later. In another incident, a 14-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by soldiers near Nablus after, according to them, he drew a knife and advanced toward them

by Hagar Shezaf, Jack Khoury and Yaniv Kubovich for Haaretz
Dec 3, 2023

Two Palestinians were killed on Saturday in the West Bank in two separate incidents.

A man's body was found in the evening in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan in the central West Bank, after clashes broke out earlier between town residents and Israeli settlers who entered the village accompanied by IDF soldiers.

Earlier on Saturday, a 14-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers near the West Bank town of Nablus after, according to them, he drew a knife and advanced toward them.

In the incident in Qarawat Bani Hassan, the Palestinian Red Crescent and residents reported that three Palestinians were wounded after being shot by settlers and soldiers who entered the town.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah, the three were lightly wounded. Later it was reported that one of the town's residents were found dead. He was named Ahmed Mustafa Assi, 38, married and father of six children.

Footage from the incident which Haaretz obtained shows masked people entering the town, as well as torched cars and the front of a house. It further shows soldiers and a military jeep near the masked people.

The Israeli army confirmed that soldiers who entered the town, as well as a security personnel from one of the settlement in the area, deployed their firearms, but said they shot in the air.

Ebrahim Easi, head of the Qarawat Bani Hassan council, said that settlers arrived at the scene together with soldiers, including residents of a nearby outpost known to the people of the village.

According to Easi, in the recent period, settlers came several times to the agricultural lands of Qarawat Bani Hassan - as well as to the neighborhood in the village located near the Havat Yair outpost - cultivated the lands and attacked residents.

According to an army source, during the Saturday's incident in the settlement, Palestinians threw stones at settlers, and the Shomron Regional Council reported a settler who was slightly injured.

The IDF spokesperson said that following a report of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli civilians near the village, a military force arrived at the scene. It also said that the soldiers responded with riot control measures and live fire, in order to disperse the participants in the confrontation.

According to the army's response, some of the Palestinian residents shot fireworks at the soldiers and as a result an Israeli citizen and four of the Palestinians were injured. It was also noted that the soldiers on the scene provided initial medical treatment to the wounded, and that the circumstances of the incident were being investigated and handed over to the police.

Earlier on Saturday, in the village of Tell, south of Nablus, an IDF force shot and killed a Palestinian who drew a knife and advanced toward the soldiers.

The Palestinian approached a military checkpoint manned by a unit of reserve soldiers, and after the soldiers suspected him and began to question him, he pulled out the knife and was fired upon.

The Red Crescent reported on another incident that happened in the West Bank town of Awarta south of Nablus, in which a seven-year-old boy was wounded by a shot in the neck. The circumstances of the incident are still under investigation.

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