Description

Photo:
MaanImages/Mamoun Wazwaz
_____

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces Thursday shot and killed a Palestinian near the Beit Einun junction northeast of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron after an alleged stab attempt, witnesses and Israel’s army said.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that a Palestinian attempted to stab Israeli soldiers stationed near the junction, who responded by opening fire on the alleged assailant.

Sources from the Palestinian Red Crescent said that Israeli military forces prevented medics from accessing the shot Palestinian for medical treatment, leaving him to bleed on the pavement.

The man was identified as Muayyad Awni Jabbarin, 20, by his father, who arrived to the scene following his death.

Clashes erupted following the incident between locals and Israeli forces, who deployed in the area and closed the main road.

Jabbarin’s body was transferred from Israeli to Palestinian authorities later in the day, and taken to Hebron’s al-Ahli hospital for autopsy.

The 20-year-old’s family told Ma’an that the funeral of their son would be held on Friday, when they would bury him in the Sair village’s cemetery.

Jabbarin's family said they found a letter written by him, in which he asks his parents to forgive him for the pain he caused them.

"God, please forgive me mom and dad, I will kill two Israeli soldiers and take revenge for all the Palestinians they killed! Mom! Do not be sad! Your son died a hero,” the letter read.

“Please forgive me, and am really sorry for the pain I caused you, but may God be with you,” the letter added. “No matter how darkness stays, the sun will rise again, chains will break and we will all be free one day.”

The night before Jabbarin's death, Israeli Border Police at the Beit Einun junction opened fire on a Palestinian driver they described as "suspicious" before detaining him.

The junction nearby Hebron city has been the site of at least four Palestinian deaths this month, among over 150 Palestinians to be killed since violence increased in the occupied Palestinian territory in October.

A 15-year-old Palestinian from the nearby village of Sair, Khalil Muhammad Shalaldah, was shot dead last week by Israeli forces after he allegedly attempted to carry out a stabbing attack at the junction.

Five days later, Muhammad Ahmad Khalil Kawabza, 23, also from Sair, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in the same place for reportedly attempting to stab soldiers at the junction.

Seventeen-year-old Adnan Hamid al-Mashni was shot in the chest during the incident while in his vehicle, after Israeli forces said he had brought Kawabza to the site prior to the alleged attack.

No Israelis were injured during any of the incidents.

Locals from Sair told Ma’an earlier this week that the Beit Einun junction -- site to a settler bypass road leads to the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba -- has recently been under the “intensive presence” of Israeli military forces.

Increased military presence spread across the Hebron district following the wave of unrest that spiraled in October, with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reporting higher restrictions in the district than any other area across the occupied Palestinian territory.

Israeli military checkpoints have been set up at the entrances to many Hebron-district villages, and residents have reported harassment, arbitrary detentions, an increase in traffic, and curfews.
_______

by Gili Cohen for Haaretz

An attempted stabbing attack was thwarted in Beit Anun, near Hebron. The Palestinian assailant was shot dead at the scene.