Funeral for Palestinians killed in an Israeli raid in Tulkarem, occupied West Bank, Jan. 9, 2024. (Credit: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters)
The Palestinian Authority accused Israeli security forces on Tuesday of deliberately running over the body of a man during a military operation in the occupied West Bank, calling it a "brutal crime."
A video widely circulated on social networks shows a military vehicle stopping in front of an inanimate body before starting up again and driving over it.
The Israeli army, which frequently carries out operations in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967, confirmed fire exchanges during an operation in the Tulkarem sector (north) and the death of "three terrorists," but made no comment on the images.
The al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of the West Bank-based Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, confirmed the death of three of their fighters.
An Israeli police spokesman said he and other security forces had launched an operation in the area to apprehend a "wanted terrorist" who was arrested after being hit by gunfire.
"This heinous crime is neither the first nor the last in a series of crimes committed by the occupier and members of the terrorist settler militias," said the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.
In addition, a Palestinian was killed on Tuesday by Israeli security forces at a checkpoint near Ramallah after attempting to stab a soldier, announced the Israeli army and the Palestinian Authority.
Since the start of the deadly war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, the West Bank has seen a level of violence unseen since the second Intifada, a Palestinian uprising from 2000 to 2005. According to the Palestinian Authority, 334 Palestinians have been killed, the majority by Israeli security forces, and at least eight by Jewish settlers, according to the UN.
This article was originally published by L'Orient-Le Jour.