Off-duty Palestinian cop dies from Israel gunfire wounds

A Palestinian succumbed to his wounds on Friday, sustained a day earlier in violence carried out by Israeli forces in the south of the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian hospital official said.

Mohammed Ismail Jawabreh, 22, died after being shot in the head on Thursday “during clashes with occupation forces” in Al-Aroub camp north of Hebron, said the official at the city’s Al-Ahly hospital, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

He was reportedly targeted by an Israeli sniper while helping neighbours in the area.

Jawabreh worked as a police officer but was not on duty during the violence that ensued on Thursday, the Israeli daily Haaretz said.

An Israeli army spokesman claimed that soldiers had pursued what they described as “masked suspects” who had allegedly been throwing rocks toward vehicles on the West Bank’s main north-south road.

Jawabreh’s death comes as Israel carried out its most violent raid in 20 years in Nablus earlier this week, where 11 Palestinians were killed, in what was labelled a “massacre” by eyewitnesses. A teenager and an elderly man were among the killed.

Separately, the Palestinian health ministry said “two Palestinians were seriously wounded by settler gunfire” on Friday in the Palestinian town of Qusra, in the north of the West Bank.

Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli “settlers attacked the homes of civilians in the south of the town, prompting residents to defend themselves”, adding that the two Palestinians were wounded in an exchange of fire.

A military spokesman told AFP that after reports of a “violent confrontation between Palestinians and Israelis adjacent to the town of Qusra soldiers arrived to the scene and responded with riot dispersal means”.

“We are aware of reports regarding Palestinians who were evacuated to a hospital as a result of gunshot wounds,” the spokesman added.

Since the start of this year, Israeli violence in the occupied territories has claimed the lives of at least 61 Palestinian adults and children.

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