JERUSALEM // Two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the West Bank on Saturday, in what witnesses referred to as “cold blood”, according to the Palestinian Maan news agency.
Witnesses told Maan that the two men were stopped at Al Hamra checkpoint in the north of the Jordan Valley and asked by soldiers to exit their vehicle, at which point the troops shot them dead.
The Israeli army alleged the men had tried to stab soldiers manning the checkpoint, but witnesses said they did not see the pair wielding knives.
The men were identified as Ali Abu Maryam, 26, from the village of Al Jadida and Said Abu Al Wafa, 38, from the village of Al Zawiya, both in the northern West Bank.
Nearly 150 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis since the start of last October, according to Maan. Twenty-two Israelis have been killed in the same time period.
Overnight, the Israeli army demolished a house in the West Bank village of Surda, near Ramallah, that belonged to the parents of 19-year-old Muhanad Halabi, who was shot dead on October 3. He was accused of stabbing two Israelis to death in Jerusalem’s Old City.
In November, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to expedite house demolitions in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which he said were “one of the most efficient tools” in discouraging Palestinian attacks.
The punitive and controversial measure has been widely criticised by rights organisation, however.
According to B’Tselem, an Israeli organisation working for human rights in the occupied territories, not only are house demolitions unlawful since they constitute deliberate harm to innocents, but their deterrent effect has never been proven.
The measure is widely used in the West Bank and was resumed in east Jerusalem in November after a five-year hiatus.
Also on Saturday, Israel returned the bodies of four Palestinians shot dead by Israeli soldiers on Thursday in the southern West Bank. They were accused of attempting to stab troops in two incidents.
All four were due to be buried later on Saturday in the village of Sair, close to Hebron, according to Palestinian sources.
Israel often retains the bodies of Palestinians killed during alleged attacks, a measure that has drawn criticism from rights groups as well as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Since the start of the year Israel has returned the bodies of 26 Palestinians to their families.
* Agence France-Presse