Two Palestinian youths killed in clashes with IDF
Clashes break out between Palestinians and IDF forces near Gaza and in the West Bank; 2 Palestinians shot dead, 6 more reportedly wounded by IDF fire; Stabbing attack near Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron thwarted as 3 Palestinian sisters are caught carrying concealed knives by Border Police.
Two Palestinians were killed and six others were wounded in clashes with IDF forces that broke out Thursday afternoon near the Gaza security barrier and in the West Bank.
About 50 Palestinians demonstrated at two locations on the northern Gaza border, threw stones at the security fence and set tires on fire.
The IDF reported they opened fire against three main instigators. As a result of the shooting, one 16-year-old youth from the al-Bureij refugee camp was shot dead, while two others were wounded.
According to the Palestinians, the youth was killed by a gunshot to the chest.
Another Palestinian youth was shot dead in clashes between IDF forces and local residents of Palestinian villages in the Nablus Governorate.
The youth, a resident of the Palestinian village of Burin identified as Ali Kino, also 16, was killed after a riot broke out over an IDF search of a village west of Burin, as part of the hunt for the terrorists who murdered Rabbi Raziel Shevah in the nearby Havat Gilad outpost.
Rioters pelted IDF soldiers with rocks and blunt objects, while the soldiers responded with live fire at central instigators. Aside from Kino, four more were reportedly wounded by the shooting.
The incident near Nablus takes place a week after a Palestinian youth Musab Firas al-Tamimi, 17, was killed in clashes in the village of Deir Nizam, north of Ramallah.
According to the Palestinians, soldiers in Deir Nizam wrote curses on the mourning poster that was placed in honor of the dead Tamimi in the village.
Hanging posters in memory of "martyrs" killed by Israeli security forces is customary throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Thwarted stabbing attack by three Palestinian sisters
Meanwhile, near the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, three Palestinian women were caught carrying concealed knives while apparently on their way to carry out a stabbing attack.Border Guard soldiers caught the three at one of the inspection posts.
The Border Police noted that "all three raised the suspicion of the soldiers in their behavior, which led to a search during which a knife was found on one of them.
"A quick preliminary investigation revealed that the three of them had come to carry out a stabbing attack and that the two additional suspects had thrown the knives before they arrived at the checkpoint from what appeared to be last moment regret.
"A search conducted by the forces under the direction of the suspects revealed that one knife was indeed thrown away, while the third knife was apparently taken by local residents."
The women, three sisters aged 15, 18 and 23 from the Palestinian refugee camp of Al-Arroub, were arrested for further questioning.
'A failing territory'
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Maj. Gen. Yoav (Poli) Mordechai, addressed the situation in Gaza at the Globes Israel Business Conference, blaming it on the Palestinians' financial mismanagement of the strip."The Gaza Strip is a failing territory. 90 percent of drinking water there is unfit for drinking, unemployment among young adults is at 60 percent, and I can give you even more data than that," he said. "This is mainly a problem for Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, but the State of Israel is very much affected by this."
According to Maj. Gen. Mordechai, the political outline, not just the security one, is that "if in Hamas demilitarizes, abandons its tunnels and arms smuggling, and reaches a compromise on the issue of POWs and MIAs, Gaza could be turned into a very large economic opportunity.
"It is possible to invest there in infrastructure and make it very successful. A failed economy can create terror and war. A stable economy can postpone and not require a war and confrontation, and this is another component of the IDF's concept of security."
The incident in the afternoon near the security fence in Gaza occurred during a period of great tension in the area.
A week ago, Israeli Air Force fighter jets attacked a central terrorist infrastructure in Gaza in response to three mortar shells fired on Israeli territory the day before.
In contrast to previous cases, this time Israel did not specify the type of target that was attacked, but it is estimated that it was a terror tunnel.
Since US President Donald Trump announced his country's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, there have been more rocket attacks on communities in the Gaza vicinity.
The IDF sees Hamas as solely responsible for what is happening in its territory, and usually replies to attacks with retaliatory fire on Hamas targets.
