Israeli forces have killed two Palestinian youths during a nocturnal raid on a village near the city of Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian medical sources said the fatalities were caused as the regime’s forces stormed the village of Kafr Dan, west of Jenin.
They identified one victim as Muhammad Samer Hoshieh, 21, from the nearby town of al-Yamoun, who died after being hit by live bullets in the chest
The second fatality was identified as 17-year-old Fuad Mahmoud Ahmed Abed, from Kafr Dan, who succumbed to the injuries he received in the abdomen and thigh.
Eight more Palestinians were also injured in the attack, some of them in critical condition.
The Israeli forces carried out the raid in an effort to demolish the homes of two Palestinian martyrs, named Ahmed Ayman Abed, 23, and Abdul Rahman Hani Abed, 22.
The regime accused the duo of a shooting attack near the al-Jalama checkpoint, located in the northern part of the occupied territories, which resulted in the death of an Israeli officer.
The new fatalities bring to 224 the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces from the beginning of 2022, including 59 from the city of Jenin, the Palestinian Wafa news agency said.
During the past months, the Tel Aviv regime’s forces and its illegal settlers have noticeably intensified their attacks against Palestinians across the occupied territories.
No earlier than on Saturday, the Middle East Eye news and analysis website reported that 2022 has been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank and the Tel Aviv-blockaded Gaza Strip since the Second Palestinian Intifada (Uprising) which ended in 2005.
More than 220 Palestinians were killed at the hands of Israeli forces throughout the year, the MEE reported, saying 167 of the victims were shot dead in the West Bank, and 53 others in Gaza. The fatalities included 48 children, the report said.
Analysts interpret the heightened Israeli brutality as a means of forcibly expelling Palestinians from their lands and making way for the expansion of illegal Jewish-only settlements.
