A Palestinian has been killed by Palestinian Authority (PA) security services in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, local media reported.
Ramzi al-Ardah was shot after armed confrontations took place between the security services and fighters inside the Tulkarem refugee camp on Wednesday.
According to local sources, the confrontations broke out after young men attempted to stop members of the security services from removing barricades armed fighters had put up earlier to obstruct Israel’s repeated raids on the camp.
Al-Ardah’s father Fakhri al-Ardah suffered from suffocation after tear gas canisters were fired by security services, sources said.
‘Bloody violation’
The Tulkarem Brigade armed group said in a statement that PA forces fired live bullets at the residents of the camp.
“The security services removed the barricades that were placed to block the movement of the occupation forces,” the Brigade said. “We will not remain silent over this act that helps the occupation, and we will not tolerate anyone who committed this bloody violation.”
A spokesperson for the Palestinian security services, Talal Dweikat, said armed men opened fire in front of a government building, which resulted in their intervention to take control of the situation.
Dweikat said the security services responded to complaints from citizens about barriers placed in front of schools and municipal buildings, as well as on roads within the refugee camp.
Armed fighters fired at the security services, and in the ensuing gun battle, a man was killed, Dweikat said, without specifying who was responsible.
Alleged car-ramming attempt
In a separate incident on Wednesday, a Palestinian man was seriously wounded after being shot by Israeli soldiers following an alleged car-ramming attempt at a checkpoint in the southern occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces said they shot at a Palestinian-owned car that had accelerated towards an army post near the illegal settlement of Hagai in Hebron.
The Palestinian, whose identity is unknown, was taken to the Israeli Soroka Hospital in Bir Sabe’ (Bir Sheba).
According to local Palestinian media, Israeli forces declared the area a closed military zone, closed the entrance to the Fawwar refugee camp in Hebron and reinforced their military presence.
Photos from the scene showed the car, which had slammed into a concrete block at the army post, riddled with bullet holes.
Near-nightly raids by Israeli forces on Palestinian areas and an increase in attacks by Israeli settlers have led to an escalation of violence across the occupied West Bank, with a rise in Palestinian shooting attacks against Israelis.
According to the United Nations, more than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in 2023 so far, marking the year as the deadliest since the body began documenting Palestinian deaths in 2006.
