Israeli army: Forces shoot and kill 2 Palestinian attackers
Posted March 2, 2016 4:49 am.
Last Updated March 2, 2016 2:22 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
JERUSALEM – Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian assailants who sneaked into a West Bank settlement and attacked an Israeli on Wednesday, the military said.
Later in the day, two Palestinians stabbed two Israeli soldiers guarding another West Bank settlement, wounding them lightly before fleeing the scene.
The Israeli Army Radio reported the Palestinians were armed with a knife and clubs and forced their way into a home in the Eli settlement, where they wounded the Israeli on Wednesday morning.
A spokeswoman for a Jerusalem hospital said the man was lightly wounded. The military said the Israeli forces opened fire after they perceived there was a “significant threat to the people of the community.”
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the attackers as Labeeb Azzam and Mohammed Zakhloul, both 17-year-old high school students.
On Wednesday evening, two Palestinians stabbed two soldiers guarding another settlement in the West Bank and wounded them lightly before fleeing the scene, the military said.
The incidents are the latest in more than five months of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Since September, 28 Israelis have been killed in near-daily Palestinian attacks. Some 170 Palestinians have also been killed during that time. Israel says most of those killed were attackers while the rest were killed in clashes with Israeli troops.
Meanwhile, the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din said the Israeli military has revoked land seizure orders issued more than 30 years ago, allowing for 170 hectares (420 acres) of West Bank land to be returned to its Palestinian owners.
The land was seized for military purposes in the 1970s and 1980s but was barely used by the military, Yesh Din said, adding that the nullification of such orders by the military is rare.
Yesh Din provided The Associated Press with the revocation orders. The military had no immediate comment.
Israel has seized thousands of hectares of private Palestinian land in the West Bank for military purposes.
