Israel shoots dead two Palestinians

Dubai: Israeli occupation troops shot dead two Palestinian men at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources.

The soldiers at Bekaot checkpoint in the northern part of the occupied West Bank were not injured and Israeli forces claim they “thwarted an attack”. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the two men were dead.

The Israeli military claim 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.

A military spokeswoman asked about the taxi driver’s account said the army was still looking into the incident.

At least 139 Palestinians have been killed in violence the erupted in October over Israeli raids on Al Haram Al Sharif in occupied east Jerusalem. The Al Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, is part of Al Haram Al Sharif. The violence has spread to the West Bank, with daily attacks on Israeli occupation soldiers and protests, the Gaza Strip where demonstrators have clashed with Israeli forces along the borders of the blockaded coastal enclave, and Palestinians living in 1948 areas.

Palestinians accuse the Israeli regime of seeking to change the rules governing the site. Under a status-quo agreement, Jews are allowed to visit the site but not perform religious rituals. Colonists however have raided the holy site several times over the past few months and performed prayers, angering Palestinians who say Israel has plans to Judaise occupied east Jerusalem and Al Haram Al Sharif.

Commentators say the surge in attacks has been fueled by the collapse of US-sponsored peace talks in 2014 and the expansion of Jewish colonies on Palestinian land.