Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh (File photo by Wafa news agency)
Ramallah, May 12 (RHC)-- Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has called for the international community’s immediate intervention after Israeli soldiers fatally shot three young Palestinians in separate incidents across the West Bank, further pushing tensions in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory towards a large-scale eruption.
“The horrific crimes committed by soldiers of the occupying Israeli regime against our people require urgent intervention by the international community, so that the organized terrorism will stop and international protection for our people will be provided,” Shtayyeh stressed, ading that the the tyranny of Israeli officials will not impact the Palestinian people’s resolve whatsoever.
“Our people are insistent on protecting our homeland and defending our sanctities, no matter what great sacrifices they would be obliged to make,” the Palestinian prime minister said.
Shtayyeh went on to say that Israeli forces practice the policy of intentional and arbitrary killings of Palestinian youths. He held the regime’s authorities fully responsible for their ongoing crimes, the latest of which was the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Mahmoud Sami Khalil Aram near the Jbara military checkpoint, south of Tulkarm.
Israeli media outlets claimed earlier that Aram, who was from the besieged Gaza Strip, was trying to cross over the separation wall in Tulkarm when he was killed.
Separately, another Palestinian youth was shot dead by Israeli soldiers at Bab al-Amoud, also known as Damascus Gate, one of the main gates of the occupied Old City of al-Quds, over an alleged stabbing attack.
Israeli forces claimed that a “suspect armed with a knife stabbed an officer” outside the Damascus Gate, who was then taken to hospital.
In the third shooting, a Palestinian youth, who was trying to open the gate of Tuqu settlement in eastern Bethlehem by shooting at the lock, was shot by the guard of the settlement.Israeli soldiers shoot dead two Palestinian youths in separate shootings in the occupied West Bank.
Hamas: Israel has no authority over al-Quds, al-Aqsa Mosque
Meanwhile, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has categorically dismissed remarks made by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday concerning the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and al-Quds, emphasizing that the sacred site and the city belong to the entire Palestinian nation.
Bennett had asserted that Israel will make its own decisions concerning al-Quds and the al-Aqsa Mosque without any foreign interference, claiming that the Tel Aviv regime holds sovereignty over the city without any foreign considerations.
Hamas political bureau member Ezzat al-Rashq rejected Bennett’s statements, terming them a blatant violation of Palestinians’ rights and international principles. Rashq underscored that such comments must be condemned and criminalized.
The Israeli regime has no right or sovereignty over al-Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque, he asserted, adding that such remarks are a desperate attempt to impose a status quo that exists only in Zionists’ dream.
“Only Palestinians have sovereignty over their land. The people have defended every iota of their soil and will continue to do so by means of all-out resistance until the entire occupied Palestinian territories are liberated and an independent Palestinian state is formed with al-Quds as its capital,” the senior Hamas official added.
