The two Palestinian civil defence officers were killed on Friday by the Israeli forces near the Hawara military checkpoint, south of Nablus, the Wafa News Agency reported.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement that Israeli occupation soldiers opened gunfire at 47-year-old Imad Abu Rasheed, seriously injuring him with live bullets in his head, abdomen, and chest. He was announced dead a few minutes later.
Another man, 35-year-old Ramzi Sami Zabara, was shot in the heart by live ammunition and critically injured. He succumbed to his serious wounds shortly after.
A third Palestinian also sustained critical injuries and was taken to hospital for medical treatment, where he underwent surgery and is now in stable condition, the health ministry said.
A fourth Palestinian who was waiting to cross the checkpoint was also shot in the foot and detained by the Israeli soldiers, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The Israeli army said in a statement that it had received information about “a shooting attack from a car on a military target near Nablus.”
“The soldiers who carry out routine activities in the area identified two suspicious vehicles and responded with live ammunition, and the casualties were determined,” he added.
In its statement about the incident, the Israeli army stated that “there were no losses in its forces.”
Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh held the occupation government responsible for this crime calling on the international community to provide international protection for the Palestinian people.
Shtayyeh mourned, on his official Facebook page, “the two martyrs, Imad Abu Rasheed and Ramzi Sami Zabara, who rose as a result of the heinous crime of field execution committed by the occupation forces at dawn today, near the Hawara military checkpoint, south of Nablus.”
This comes at a time when the Israeli occupation forces continue to besiege Nablus for the 18th consecutive day, disrupting the movement of citizens.
The incident is the latest in a week of deaths in Nablus, where Israeli forces have launched operations and imposed severe restrictions on movement.
Six Palestinians were killed on Monday night, October 24, in the occupied West Bank, five of them in a military operation in the city of Nablus that targeted the headquarters of the armed group Aren Al-Assad, and another in Nabi Saleh in clashes near Ramallah.
