(Huwwarah) Un Palestinien a été tué vendredi lors d’affrontements nocturnes avec des Israéliens à Huwwara, ville du nord de la Cisjordanie occupée où de nouveaux heurts ont éclaté pendant ses funérailles entraînant l’hospitalisation de neuf Palestiniens blessés par des tirs de soldats israéliens.
Labib Dmidi, « âgé de 19 ans, a été tué par des balles de colons dans le cœur », selon le ministère palestinien de la Santé.
Située au sud de la grande ville palestinienne de Naplouse, Huwwara a été le théâtre depuis le début de l’année de plusieurs attaques mortelles à l’arme à feu menées par des Palestiniens contre des voitures transportant des Israéliens et de descentes de représailles violentes de colons juifs des environs contre la population locale.
Son maire, Moïn Dmidi, a indiqué à l’AFP que Labib Dmidi s’était réfugié sur le toit de sa maison, attaquée par des colons et que l’un d’entre eux l’avait alors tué par balles.
« Plus de 200 colons se sont rassemblés au milieu de Huwwara après minuit, en criant et en dansant, certains d’entre eux le visage masqué », a déclaré à l’AFP un autre habitant, Abderrahaman Dmidi, journaliste.
« Ils ont commencé à lancer des pierres en direction de certaines maisons, puis les jeunes […] tried to defend their homes by throwing stones,” he added.
A statement from the Israeli army suggests that the Palestinian may have been killed by fire from its soldiers.
“Dozens of Israeli civilians gathered” in Huwwara after midnight, “Israeli civilians and Palestinian residents of the town (then) threw stones,” writes the army, which says it used “anti -riots” to “stop the clashes”.
The soldiers also opened fire “with live ammunition” and hit “a suspect” who had thrown “a paving stone at an Israeli vehicle”, adds the army.
” Vandalism ”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the night’s events as a “heinous crime committed by a hateful and racist settler” reflecting the “perpetuation of crimes and attacks by organized settler militias against our people.”
The nighttime raid of settlers on Huwwara took place hours after a Palestinian was shot dead in the area by Israeli soldiers after opening fire with an automatic weapon on a car without Israeli civilians on board the vehicle. are affected, according to the army.
According to an AFP journalist, clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians broke out at midday on Friday during the funeral of Labib Dmidi.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, nine Palestinians were hospitalized after being injured by rubber-coated bullets or live ammunition, and 19 others were treated on the scene for wounds caused by rubber-coated bullets.
Regarding the violence of the night, the army reported “information […] on acts of vandalism against the property of Palestinian residents of the city by Israeli civilians.
In February, dozens of Israeli settlers set fire to numerous buildings in the city after a Palestinian gun attack left two Israelis dead.
At least 247 Palestinians, 32 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have been killed since the start of the year in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an AFP count established from official Israeli and Palestinian sources.
These statistics include, on the Palestinian side, combatants and civilians including minors, and on the Israeli side, the majority of civilians including minors, and three members of the Arab minority.