Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian teenager in the West Bank city of Tulkarm, just a day after the killing of a Palestinian man in occupied al-Quds.
The Israeli military claimed in a statement that the incident occurred at roughly 1:20 a.m. local time on Monday at the Te’enim Checkpoint near the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
It added that the teenage driver, whom Palestinian media outlets identified as Muhammad Nidal Younis, rammed his car into another vehicle that was going through the crossing, hitting a security guard in the process.
Military forces at the checkpoint opened fire and shot the 16-year-old teenager, a resident of the Palestinian city of Nablus. He was brought to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba city and was later pronounced dead.
The Israeli Magen David Adom ambulance service said the guard, 34, was in a serious but stable condition with head and chest injuries and was conscious.
He was evacuated to Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv and his condition improved to moderate a few hours later.
The incident comes just over a day after Israeli forces fatally shot a young Palestinian man over an alleged stabbing attack outside the Damascus Gate of the Old City of al-Quds.
Official Palestinian news agency WAFA, citing witnesses, said on Friday morning that Israeli troops had fatally shot a young man and injured another, when they opened gunfire at a passenger car in Umm al-Fahm city, located 20 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of Jenin.
One of the Palestinian men, identified as Fathi Mohammed Fathi Jabrin, died from his wounds. The other was detained to be interrogated by Israeli forces.
The Israeli police said in a statement that the two border police officers were injured in a car-ramming attack.
Israeli troops have on numerous occasions been caught on camera brutally killing Palestinians, with the videos going viral online and sparking international condemnation.
The Tel Aviv regime has been criticized for its extensive use of lethal force against and extrajudicial killing of Palestinians who do not pose an immediate threat to the occupation forces or to the Israeli settlers.
‘Tulkarem operation natural response to Israeli crimes’
Hours after the Monday morning event, Palestinian resistance groups hailed the operation in Tulkarem as a natural response to the Israeli regime’s continuing crimes against the Palestinians.
“The day for revolutionary nations has started with a manifestation of salvation and resistance. A sacrificial operation was carried out against [Israeli] occupying forces in the early hours of today near Tulkarem in the West Bank,” Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for Hamas resistance movement, said.
He added, “This is a passionate revolution, and Palestinian youths have decided to free themselves from the yoke of [Israeli] occupation. They will continue to show great creativity in their resistance until the entire Palestinian lands are liberated from the grip of the Zionist colonization.”
Palestinian Freedom Movement also said in a statement that “the heroic operation near Tulkarem pointed to the deeply-seated nature of resistance in the hearts and minds of our people. It was a natural response to the provocative actions of the [Western] media.”
“The operation showed that the blood of martyrs nurtures resistance and that occupiers will pay dearly for their crimes. Resistance is like a burning fire, and the occupation will be targeted anywhere on our lands,” the statement read.
Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanoo stressed that the flame of resistance is burning and the Zionist regime’s crimes cannot smother the Palestinian nation’s struggle.
“Martyrdom-seeking operations will continue one after another, and our battle will persist until the occupation of all Palestinian lands and sacred sites ends,” he added.
Mohammed Shalah, an Islamic Jihad leader, also praised the operation in Tulkarem, and said it exhibited the rightness of resistance against occupiers until they are completely driven out of the Palestinian territories.
“This operation confirms that the revolutionary youths in the occupied West Bank are still a surprise to the occupying regime, as they doing their best to turn the lives of Israeli troops and settlers into hell,” Shalah pointed out.
‘Spirit of resistance deep-rooted in Palestine’
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement has lauded martyrdom-seeking operations across the occupied terrorists, stating they display the tremendous spirit of resistance among the Palestinian nation.
“The ongoing acts of aggression by the Zionist regime cannot deter Palestinians from carrying out martyrdom-seeking operations in the occupied territories. Hostile Israeli actions and crimes cannot put out the popular uprising of Palestinians against Zionists,” said Daoud Shehab, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad in Gaza.
Shehab criticized the international community’s stance vis-à-vis the Palestinian issue, saying: “The international community, through its silence on the Zionist regime’s misdeeds, is complicit in crimes being committed against Palestinians.”