Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Palestinian reported killed by Israeli troops in West Bank

Israeli troops shot dead a 22-year-old Palestinian activist during clashes Tuesday night around a West Bank refugee camp, Palestinian medical officials said.
An Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman confirmed its troops "fired several shots" at Palestinians throwing objects at them inside the camp, saying they did so because they felt "endangered for their lives."
They later understood that several of those shots hit individuals, the spokeswoman said.
Mahmoud al-Titi was the man killed around the al-Fawar camp south of Hebron, according to Issa Amer, a activist in Hebron.
A former media and journalism student, al-Titi founded the Youth Movement for Freed Prisoners in Hebron and himself spent three years in Israeli jails, according to Amer.
Palestinian TV reported that Israeli forces raided the camp and began firing live ammunition. In addition to al-Titi, several Palestinians were wounded by gunfire, according to the WAFA state news agency.
The Israel Defense Forces' account, meanwhile, is that several Palestinians were hurling "firebombs" at Israeli troops.
"A violent fight" erupted after Israeli military personnel entered the camp trying to apprehend those behind the "firebombs," said the IDF spokeswoman.
Some Palestinians threw rocks at the troops during this operation, she added.
While Israel launched a large-scale, high-profile military operation late last year focused on targets in Gaza, tensions have been rising more recently in the West Bank.
They have spiked notably following last month's death of Arafat Jaradat, a 30-year-old Palestinian, in an Israeli prison.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called Jaradat a "prisoner martyr."
"We know how we will act, and we will not let them (Israelis) drag us to their square, and they should bear the responsibility," Abbas said, according to WAFA.
Israeli officials responded by calling on the Palestinian Authority to calm the territories, where there have been large protests over the conditions of Palestinian prisoners.

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