Palestinian killed in Gush Etzion, Friday afternoon

A Palestinian man was shot dead by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and by an Israeli settler after reportedly attempting to carry out a stab attack at the Gush Etzion illegal junction on Friday afternoon, Israeli media reported.

According to the IOF spokesperson, a Palestinian man was killed while attempting to stab Israeli soldiers stationed at the Gush Etzion illegal junction southwest of Bethlehem.

No injuries were reported among Israeli soldiers or settlers at the junction, according to Israeli media reports.

Eyewitnesses said the IOF opened fire on and killed a Palestinian man in his twenties while he was driving his vehicle near the Junction.  His identity remains unknown.

After killing him, the IOF closed traffic in all directions from the Junction, a main thoroughfare located between Bethlehem and Hebron.

Moments earlier, Israeli soldiers arrested two Palestinian minors said to be armed with knives near the illegal Shaare Benjamin settlement in the occupied West Bank. The two were arrested for questioning.
The Gush Etzion illegal junction has been the site of multiple stabbing and shooting operatives since October last year : more than 10 Palestinians and three settlers have been killed at the Gush Etzion illegal junction.

The current tension situation is ongoing since October first 2015, due to repetitive Israeli settler attacks on Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest place in Islam, and Israeli restrictions over Palestinian entrance, in addition to the Duma arson attack which killed a baby and his parents on July, 31.

Moreover, the IOF has been criticized internationally in recent months for its ‘preemptive shootings’ of Palestinians alleged to be holding knives.

In addition several of the incidents in which the IOF has claimed that they were ‘attacked’ have proven to be false.

Since then, almost 200 Palestinians have been killed. More than 15,000 Palestinians have been injured by IOF live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets and teargas.

Some 30 settlers were killed on the Israeli side in Palestinian operatives

Source: PNN