Violence Escalates as Israeli Forces Kill 2 Palestinian Teens in West Bank
In the latest incident of escalating violence in the West Bank, Israeli forces fatally shot a Palestinian man on Saturday. The Israeli army said the deceased, along with another man, attempted to drive a car into soldiers near the city of Nablus. The incident resulted in the death of one individual and the injury of the other.
The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry identified the deceased as 18-year-old Fawzi Makhalfeh. Makhalfeh’s family disputes the Israeli army’s account, stating that the two men were ambushed while driving and their vehicle was fired upon excessively.
The mayor of Sebastia, Mohammad Azem, supported the family’s version of events and described a scene of bloody chaos, with over 50 bullet holes in the vehicle.
The incident follows the fatal shooting of another Palestinian teenager, Mohammad Al-Bayedd, 17, during a confrontation with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank’s Umm Safa village on Friday.
The ongoing conflict has resulted in the deaths of more than 150 Palestinians and 26 Israelis since the start of 2023, marking one of the worst periods of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in recent years. The violence was triggered when Israel expanded near-nightly raids into Palestinian areas last year in response to a series of Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
