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Two Palestinians killed in Naqba Day violence, Hamas vows ‘armed resistance’
Two Palestinians were shot dead yesterday after having attacked Israeli security forces in the West Bank yesterday in a violent clash during Naqba Day commemorations.
Demonstrations have become increasingly prominent in recent years to mark what many Palestinians call Naqba (‘catastrophe’) Day, the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The ensuing War of Independence saw many Palestinians displaced from their homes. Marches and rallies took place yesterday in many Palestinian West Bank towns and cities, the largest attracting around 2,000 people in Ramallah.
However, Israeli military sources reported that around 150 Palestinians gathered at the Ofer Prison near Ramallah, where many Palestinian prisoners are held. They reportedly confronted Israeli soldiers and border police, throwing fire bombs, rocks and burning tyres at them. Considering their safety in danger, the Israeli security forces opened fire with what the IDF said was rubber bullets, but Palestinian sources claimed was live ammunition. Two Palestinian men died as a result of the clash, although reports vary regarding their identity.
An Israeli army source told the Jerusalem Post, “The rioting was very serious … This was a very aggressive attack on security personnel. We are examining the incident.”
In a televised speech, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said, “After 66 years of the Nakba, we have proved – and will prove – the restoration of Palestine to the geographic map.” Abbas’s Fatah faction recently agreed to form a unity government with Hamas, which underscored its commitment to violence against Israel yesterday in its own Naqba Day statement, which pledged resistance “in all its forms, first and foremost armed resistance.” The statement further described the displacement of Palestinians in 1948 as, “the most heinous crime and ethnic cleansing in modern history,” carried out “by the Zionist occupation in collusion with Western forces.”
Israeli security forces in the West Bank are on heightened alert today, in order to control any potential unrest following Friday prayers, in light of yesterday’s violence.