Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians during a raid on the town of Qabatiya in the occupied West Bank. Video footage showed soldiers pushing what appeared to be dead bodies off a rooftop. The assault, which involved bulldozers, fighter jets, and drones, lasted for hours. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called it a crime that exposed the brutality of the Israeli army. Mustafa Barghouti of the Palestinian National Initiative condemned the soldiers’ behavior as savage and inhuman.
While the Israeli military acknowledged the video evidence and said the incident was under review, skepticism remained about whether a proper investigation would be conducted. The death toll rose to seven after the recovery of another body by Palestinian medics. Eleven people were injured during the clashes, and over 1,000 children were barricaded in schools and a kindergarten. The town remained under siege into the night, with employees of the Education Directorate unable to leave their building.
This raid comes after a deadly assault on cities in the West Bank in August, in which at least 39 Palestinians were killed. More than 600 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank in the past year, making it the deadliest year since the United Nations began tracking casualties in 2005. Mustafa Barghouti emphasized that while there is no war in the West Bank, there are military actions against a civilian population.
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Photo credit www.aljazeera.com
