Palestinian medical officials said that an Israeli soldier killed a Palestinian during skirmishes Thursday morning in the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinians denied the Israeli army’s claims that he was armed and firing at soldiers.
Israeli forces reportedly arrived to defend Jewish pilgrims visiting Joseph’s Tomb, a Jewish site that has been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to witnesses.
According to the Palestine Red Crescent, one Palestinian, age 18, was murdered after being shot among four other Palestinians. Overall, there were at least 30 wounded Palestinians.
Israeli security personnel searched seven non-governmental organisations in the West Bank later that day, seizing laptops and other material before closing the entrances, according to Palestinian witnesses and officials.
This came after Israel declared the organisations to be terrorist organisations, accusing them of transferring funding to Palestinian militants. This decision has drawn criticism from the UN and human rights watchdogs. On Wednesday, the designation was approved.
Nine member nations of the European Union have declared that they will keep collaborating with the organisations, citing the Israeli claim’s lack of support.
Benny Gantz, the Israeli defence minister, reaffirmed Israel’s position that the organisations had operated clandestinely to support the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which has carried out deadly attacks against Israelis and is listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union.
According to Gantz, ‘they also help raise money for the terrorist organisation through a variety of tactics, including forgery and fraud.’
According to top Palestinian Authority official Hussein Al-Sheikh, the ‘storming of civil work institutions… is a hazardous escalation and is an attempt to suppress the voice of truth and justice.’
In order to pressure them into reopening the institutions and allowing their activities to be carried out freely, Sheikh stated, ‘We will call to all official international authorities and human rights institutions to intervene promptly and condemn this occupier behaviour.’
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