Live: Israel and Hamas claim victory as fragile ceasefire holds
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At least 10 Palestinians have been shot dead in the West Bank on Friday, as protests have spread throughout Israel and the occupied territories and are continuing to be met by Israeli aggression.
Israeli forces have been deployed to repress Palestinian demonstrations inside Israel, East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, and have been using live ammunition against protesters in Nablus. Israeli settlers also used live ammunition against Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah, according to local media.
MEE has confirmed the following deaths in the West Bank so far:
- Mohammed Ruhi Hammad, 30, in Silwad near Ramallah.
- Sharif Khaled Salman, 38, in Marada, Salfit.
- Awad Ahmed Harb, in Eskaka, Salfit.
- Youssef Nawasarah, 26, in Fahma, Jenin.
- Nidal Sael Safadi, in Urif, Nablus.
- Issa Burhom, in Nablus.
- Ismail al-Tobasi, in Hebron.
- Malek Hamdan, 22, in Salem, Nablus.
- Hossam Asaireh, 18, in Asira, Nablus.
Israeli police have arrested Kamal al-Khatib, vice president of the Islamic Movement for Palestinian citizens in Israel.
According to local media, police detained Khatib after storming his house in Galilee.
Khatib’s son told Al Jazeera Arabic that Israeli forces entered the home violently, after a large crackdown on protesters in the area.
The arrest came after Palestinians warned that a number of prominent activists had received messages from Israeli intelligence officers threatening protesters.
“Many people got a text message, including influential protesters, saying that they were recorded as being present at al-Aqsa and they would be held accountable,” Khatib’s son said.
Three Palestinians were killed on Friday evening, one of them in a settler attack on citizens near Hebron, raising the day's death toll in the occupied West Bank to 10.
The Ministry of Health stated that Ismail al-Tobasi was shot in the head with a live bullet, and arrived in critical condition at the Yatta governmental hospital before being announced dead.
Two others were killed in Nablus, sources told MEE.
The Israeli army has shot dead a Lebanese man who was demonstrating at the northern border with Lebanon in support of Palestinians facing bombardment in Gaza and imminent eviction in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
The man, identified by local media as Mohammed Tahan, 21, died from his wounds after the Israeli army had fired at dozens of protesters along the Israel-Lebanon border.
According to the report, the Israeli army said in a statement that they fired warning shots towards a number of rioters who were attempting to cross into Israeli territory.
Lebanese medical sources said that some injuries were sustained as a result of the Israeli army firing into the area where protesters had gathered in large numbers.
Settlers are firing live ammunition at Palestinian protesters in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, according to local media.
Earlier today, Israeli forces were heavily patrolling the neighbourhood and dispersing any large gatherings of people in an effort to deter them from collecting.
Skunk water was also sprayed at people gathering and singing protest songs.
Sheikh Jarrah has been the focal point of protests in recent days, as a number of families face imminent eviction from an Israeli court.
Israeli forces continued to break up groups of protesters in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Friday.
Trucks disseminated skunk water in an effort to disperse large gatherings of people, a tactic that has been witnessed over the past week in order to prevent people from carrying out protests.
Many Palestinians have raised concerns over the use of skunk water, which leaves an unbearable smell that can sometimes last for weeks, on skin and clothes. The tactic has also been outside the highly revered al-Aqsa Mosque.
Meanwhile, large numbers of armed Israeli police were deployed on the ground, some shown arresting protesters who gathered in the area.
Some left-wing Israelis stood in solidarity with Palestinian protesters being removed from the area.
Israeli police also harassed and intimidated members of the press covering the events in the neighbourhood, disrupting reports and footage coming from on the ground.
In recent days, Israeli protesters have provoked the ongoing Palestinian protesters by setting up demonstrations opposite them, blaring music from loudspeakers.
A number of Palestinian families are facing eviction in Sheikh Jarrah from an Israeli court, which has sparked protests across many parts of Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as from Palestinian citizens in Israel.
The Palestinian Red Crescent in Nablus has reiterated its calls for health centres to open their doors and receive wounded Palestinians, after a number of its ambulances were blocked from entering vital locations due to road cordons imposed by Israeli authorities.
Mamoun Abbas, the official spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent, told Middle East Eye that since the start of the confrontations in Jerusalem earlier this week, its medical teams have faced major problems in accessing key areas with ambulances.
“We are finding it difficult to move around our ambulances and medical staff. If the Israeli army obstructs roads and prevent them from reaching areas of confrontation, we can’t help people,” he said.
According to Abbas, despite contacting the International Federation of the Red Cross, and Israeli authorities, the group has not received any justification or any convincing explanation as to why their ambulances were denied access to the scenes.
Abbas also said that last week, the Israeli army fired live ammunition directly at ambulances while staff were trying to transport a wounded person at the Hawara checkpoint, south of Nablus.
The Palestininan Red Crescent has continued to record numerous cases of injuries, as a result of rubber coated-steel bullets being shot at people, as well as the beating of their medical staff in Jerusalem.
“The Occupying forces do not respect humanitarian or international laws,” Abbas said.
A Palestinian man was killed in Jericho on Friday, taking the total number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank to seven.
The man was named as 20-year-old Mohammed Shger.
MEE has also confirmed the following deaths:
- Mohammed Ruhi Hammad, 30, in Silwad near Ramallah.
- Sharif Khaled Salman, 38, in Marada, Salfit.
- Awad Ahmed Harb, in Eskaka, Salfit.
- Youssef Nawasarah, 26, in Fahma, Jenin.
- Nidal Sael Safadi, in Urif, Nablus.
- Issa Burhom, in Nablus.
Palestinians have been demonstrating on Friday afternoon, more than a week since tensions reached a boiling point over planned expropriations in occupied East Jerusalem, the violent crackdown by Israeli forces on worshippers at al-Aqsa mosque and an ongoing Israeli military operation on the besieged Gaza Strip.
With Israeli forces deployed to repress Palestinian protesters inside Israel, East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, the situation has effectively reached every corner of the occupied Palestinian territories.
Official Palestinian Authority (PA) news agency Wafa has confirmed the deaths of four Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in separate incidents on Friday.
The first was identified as Mohammed Ruhi Hammad, killed in the town of Silwad east of Ramallah after allegedly attempting to carry out a car ramming attack according to the Israeli army.
Shortly after, a Palestinian man - identified by a Middle East Eye correspondent on the scene as 26-year-old Youssef Nawasra- was killed near the village of Yabad, in the northern occupied West Bank governorate of Jenin, during a demonstration.
Later, Wafa reported the deaths of Awad Ahmed Harb, 23, and Sharif Khaled Suleiman, 38, killed during demonstrations in the Salfit-area villages of Iskaka and Marada respectively.
Two Palestinian men were shot and killed in the villages of Iskaka and Marda, in the Salfit governorate, Wafa news agency reported.
Wafa identified the men as Awad Ahmed Harb, 23, and Sharif Khaled Suleiman, 38.
Ammar Harb, an activist from Iskaka, near the city of Salfit, told Middle East Eye that the village had been violently attacked by Israeli settlers and that Palestinians went out to confront them.
According to Harb, settlers fired live bullets at the demonstrators, seriously wounding a 26-year-old man, identified as Awad Munir, in the chest. A number of other people were also wounded by live ammunition.
“This area is always being exposed to settler attacks, but this has been one of the most violent ones we’ve witnessed,” said Harb.
He added that despite the presence of Israeli police, settlers were not stopped from carrying out attacks. The Palestinian Red Crescent in Nablus is also calling on health and medical centres to the south to open their doors, in order to allow ambulances in and treat those who have sustained injuries as a result of israeli forces shooting at crowds.
The Palestinian Red Crescent has previously raised concerns over Israeli forces obstructing their way, closing roads and, in some cases, attacking medical staff who are treating wounded individuals on the scene.
These two deaths bring the total number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank today to four.
Lebanese protesters gathered near Israel in southern Lebanon on Friday afternoon.
It was unclear if they managed to crossed into Israel or if there were any injuries.
Separately, a security source in south Lebanon told Middle East Eye that three rockets fired towards Israel on Thursday evening were launched from Basateen al-Qulayla, a coastal area near al-Qulayla village.
The area lies around 1km from the Palestinian refugee camp of al-Rashidiya, outside the city of Tyre.
Speaking from the Jalamah checkpoint in the far northern West Bank, Khadr Adnan, a leader of the Islamic Jihad movement, told Middle East Eye that the widespread mobilisation of Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel showed unity unseen in years.
“The demonstrations that took place at dawn, where thousands participated despite there being no prior warning or organisation, have not been witnessed in the West Bank since the end of the al-Aqsa Intifada” also known as the Second Intifada, he said. “People are going out to support the people of Gaza and reject the aggression by Israeli forces.”
According to Adnan, the Jalamah checkpoint is witnessing an influx of hundreds of demonstrators, with some violent confrontations breaking out with Israeli forces. Adnan said that Israeli forces have shot a number of young Palestinians in the area with live bullets.
The latest update from the Gaza Ministry of Health states that 122 people have been killed in the besieged Palestinian enclave since Monday, including 31 children and 20 women.
A further 900 people have been wounded, amid escalating air strikes.
Murad Abu Karam, an activist from Jabal Sabih in the West Bank district of Nablus, told Middle East Eye that the town was witnessing a wave of very violent confrontations with Israeli forces, who have reportedly been firing live bullets and large amounts of tear gas at protesting Palestinians.
Abu Karam says that Jabal Sabih has long been threatened with land confiscations, as Israeli settlers seek to establish an outpost - illegal under international law - in the area, leading to regular tensions with Palestinian residents.
“This time, these confrontations are different from when we’ve gone out to defend our land before,” he said. “This is not just about my hometown, it’s about Jerusalem and about Gaza, which is suffering under bombardment.”
Abu Karam called for journalists to document the ongoing Israeli repression of Palestinian protests.
“The occupation forces are escalating their crackdown on us and firing live ammunition in the absence of media and journalists covering what is going on,” he added.
Sami Shami, a journalist from the nearby town of Madama, told MEE that he witnessed Israeli forces attempting to arrest a demonstrator who was able to escape with the help of others.
According to Shami, Israeli forces have been preventing ambulances from reaching key locations and treating Palestinians who are injured.
“There are a number of key flashpoints of violence in Nablus now, particularly in the villages of Burin, Madama, Beita and Huwayra,” he said.
Official Palestinian Authority (PA) news agency Wafa has reported that a Palestinian has been shot and killed by Israeli forces near the village of Yabad, in the northern occupied West Bank governorate of Jenin.
The PA Ministry of Health confirmed the death without providing more information.
Middle East Eye correspondents on the ground report the man was 26-year-old Youssef Nawasarah.
This is the second Palestinian to have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank today, after Mohammed Ruhi Hammad, killed in the town of Silwad east of Ramallah after allegedly attempting to carry out a car ramming attack, according to the Israeli army.
