RAMALLAH: Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinian men at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the Israeli military and Palestinians said, but details of the incident were disputed.
The soldiers at Bekaot checkpoint in the northern West Bank were not injured and Israeli forces “thwarted the attack and shot the assailants,” said the military. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the two men were dead.
The Israeli military said the men tried to stab soldiers at the checkpoint but a Palestinian taxi driver, who asked not be identified, said the men did not get out of their vehicle before the soldiers opened fire.
“We were three cars awaiting our turn to cross, the two men who were killed were in the car ahead of mine. The soldiers signaled to them to come forward. When they got there, they opened fire at the car,” he said.
Meanwhile, the condition of a Palestinian journalist on a 48-day hunger strike in an Israeli jail is deteriorating, the man’s wife and a Palestinian official said Monday.
Mohammed Al-Qeq is protesting his six-month sentence without trial or charge, under a measure called administrative detention. Israel’s internal security agency Shin Bet said Al-Qeq was arrested in connection with his alleged involvement in “terror activities” linked to Hamas.
“Al-Qeq is in critical condition after 48 days in hunger strike and his life is at risk,” said Issa Qaraqe, the Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs. Al-Qeq, 33, works as a correspondent for the Saudi channel Al-Majd and also appears as an analyst on channels linked to Hamas. He was arrested Nov. 21.
The soldiers at Bekaot checkpoint in the northern West Bank were not injured and Israeli forces “thwarted the attack and shot the assailants,” said the military. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the two men were dead.
The Israeli military said the men tried to stab soldiers at the checkpoint but a Palestinian taxi driver, who asked not be identified, said the men did not get out of their vehicle before the soldiers opened fire.
“We were three cars awaiting our turn to cross, the two men who were killed were in the car ahead of mine. The soldiers signaled to them to come forward. When they got there, they opened fire at the car,” he said.
Meanwhile, the condition of a Palestinian journalist on a 48-day hunger strike in an Israeli jail is deteriorating, the man’s wife and a Palestinian official said Monday.
Mohammed Al-Qeq is protesting his six-month sentence without trial or charge, under a measure called administrative detention. Israel’s internal security agency Shin Bet said Al-Qeq was arrested in connection with his alleged involvement in “terror activities” linked to Hamas.
“Al-Qeq is in critical condition after 48 days in hunger strike and his life is at risk,” said Issa Qaraqe, the Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs. Al-Qeq, 33, works as a correspondent for the Saudi channel Al-Majd and also appears as an analyst on channels linked to Hamas. He was arrested Nov. 21.
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