According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Salah Tawfiq Sawafta, 58, was shot in the head in Tubas, about twenty kilometers north of Nablus.
by (with reuters)
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced, Friday, August 19, the death of a Palestinian, target of a shooting of the Israeli forces, during what the Israeli army described as an operation against activists alleged in Occupied West Bank.
Identified by the ministry as Salah Tawfiq Sawafta, this 58 -year -old Palestinian was shot in the head in Tubas, about twenty kilometers north of Nablus. According to his nephew, he was the target of shots as he returned home after morning prayer. 2>
The Israeli army explains that he was wiped off
The Israeli army explained in a statement that it had arrested five suspects involved in the preparation of “terrorist attacks” overnight during an intervention in Tubas and in the neighboring city of Tammun. She added that the Israeli soldiers had only opened fire to Tobas after being the target of Molotov and shots.
The Islamic jihad, one of the main Palestinian armed groups, said that one of its influential members, Ma’moun Na’eem Bani Odeh, 32, had been arrested in Tammun during this operation. “It is obvious that the occupation forces carry out a campaign of raids and arrests targeting the frameworks of the resistance and the Islamic jihad in occupied West Bank,” said the movement in a statement.
While the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have stalled since 2014, Israel has intensified its interventions in the West Bank in recent months, with almost daily operations, following several deadly attacks on its territory.
A new wave of violent clashes between Israeli forces and Islamic jihad in the Gaza Strip left 49 dead and hundreds of injured in three days at the beginning of the month.