Israeli army forces killed three Palestinians, including a minor, on Thursday and withheld their bodies in the northern West Bank amid ongoing assaults in the occupied territory, the Health Ministry said.
In a statement, the ministry said it was informed by the General Authority of Civil Affairs, the official liaison body between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, that Mahmoud Hussein Abu Samra, 20, and Mohammad Samer Mleitat, 16, were killed by Israeli fire in the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus.
It said a 24-year-old man was also shot and killed by Israeli forces near Haddad Roundabout, east of Jenin.
The official news agency Wafa, citing security forces, said early Thursday that Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians and withheld their bodies in Beit Furik.
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Two other Palestinians were injured by Israeli fire and transferred to a hospital for medical attention.
Beit Furik Mayor Youssef Hanani said Israeli forces shut all entry points to the town, as soldiers and occupiers attacked residents while they were trying to extinguish fires that broke out in their fields.
Hanani said Israeli troops forced a Palestinian family to evacuate its home after assaulting its owner, while fires spread to electricity poles and occupiers set fire to two Palestinian vehicles in the town.
Dozens of residents were unable to reach their homes or leave the town after the Israeli army closed the Beit Furik military checkpoint, he added.
The killings came shortly after the Israeli army shot dead a Palestinian in the northern West Bank on claims of carrying out a stabbing attack targeting one of its soldiers near the illegal settlement of Ganim.
Since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, the Israeli army and occupiers have intensified attacks on Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank, killing at least 1,185 people and injuring 3,816 others, according to official Palestinian figures.
