Ramallah: Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians in Hebron whom Israel accused of kidnapping and killing three colonists near Hebron earlier this year.
The Hebron Governor Kamel Hamid has confirmed the identities of the dead men as Marwan Al Qawasmi and Amer Abu Aisah, terming them martyrs and announcing, “We condemn this crime, this assassination, as deliberate and premeditated murder.”
Israeli forces raided the city at 2.30am, targeting the university area. The soldiers sealed off all the access roads and streets leading to the area which hosts Hebron’s two universities — Hebron University and the Polytechnic University. Sources in Hebron said that Israeli military forces fired live ammunition and grenades at surrounding houses and later Israeli snipers occupied the top of the high buildings in the area. All the surveillance cameras in all the buildings and shops in the area were seized by the Israeli armed forces.
When the students arrived at university at 7am, Israeli troops announced they wanted the two young men. Clashes ensued in which three students were hospitalised after sustaining injuries. One student, Hamza Burqan, suffered a serious head injury.
Israeli troops then took the bodies of the two young men from the targeted site and moved to an unknown location.
The father of Marwan was instructed later to identify his son’s body at the Israeli-Palestinian Security Coordination Affairs Liasion Office. The mother of Amer said that she was unable to recognise her son’s body as it was nearly completely burned. Another body has so far not been identified.
The Hebron sources said that Israeli military forces also destroyed a small shoe factory in their operation and arrested three Al Qawasmi family members, Bashar, Mohammad and Thaer, all brothers, on charges of assisting their relative Marwan and his friend Abu Aisha to hide.
Arafat Al Qawasmi, the father of the three teens, was arrested two months ago on similar charges. The sources stressed that the Israeli military forces have sealed the area and declared it a military zone, denying even senior Palestinian officials the right to approach.
The sources said that the Israeli military forces went to Hebron to assassinate Al Qawasmi and Abu Aisha and that even if the duo had turned themselves in the Israeli forces would have killed them. Two weeks ago the Israeli military forces demolished the family house of Marwan Al Qawasmi and sealed with concrete that of Abu Aisha. They also demolished the family house of Hussam Al Qawasmi, the third wanted Palestinian who was arrested by the Israeli military.
