The Israeli troops have killed two more Palestinian men at a military checkpoint in the south of Nablus city, West Bank, taking the death toll for 2022 to 186.
They were identified as 47-year-old Imad Abu Rasheed and 35-years-old Ramzi Sami Zabara. Both Zabara and Abu Rasheed worked for the Palestinian Authority’s Civil Defence, and lived in the Askar refugee camp on the eastern outskirts of Nablus.
Zabara had bullet injuries in the stomach, chest, and head and Abu succumbed to his wounds from a bullet to the heart on Friday, according to Palestinian officials.
However, the circumstances of their killing remain unclear.
The Israeli army said in a statement that its forces were “carrying out an operation close to the Hawara checkpoint” and that they “identified two suspicious vehicles and fired at them,” according to Israeli media.
Israeli forces have killed at least 186 Palestinians since the start of the year, including 134 people in occupied East Jerusalem and West Bank and 51 in the besieged Gaza Strip. The death toll includes 41 children, 17 of whom were killed during Israel’s three-day assault on Gaza in August.
The United Nations has said that 2022 “is the highest year for Palestinian fatalities in the West Bank, compared to the same period in the previous 16 years”.