Israeli forces gun down 17-year-old social media activist

RAMALLAH, 22 May 2022 [Fik/News Sources]: A 17-year-old Palestinian boy was killed and another teenager was critically wounded by Israeli military forces who raided the Jenin refugee camp at dawn on Saturday.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that Amjad Al-Fayed died after being shot by the Israeli army.

Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition during violent confrontations with youths on Haifa Street. Local Palestinian sources in Jenin reported that army vehicles had tried to advance toward the outskirts of the camp.

Al-Fayed was the nephew of two previous victims of Israeli barbarity. Their names are associated with the “ambush of the 13 soldiers” in Jenin during a battle in April 2002.

Palestinian sources reported that a march was launched in front of Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin as soon as the killing of Al-Fayed was announced.  Mourners carried his body and roamed the city's streets and its camp. They chanted slogans condemning the crimes of the Israeli occupation and called for strengthening national unity.

Later, large crowds in Jenin attended the teen's funeral and condemned Israeli atrocities.

Palestinian national and Islamic factions in Jenin called for reinforcing national unity to confront Israel's excesses.

The speakers stressed that Israel's crimes would not intimidate the Palestinians and “they would continue to resist until the occupation was defeated.”

A general strike was also observed in Jenin to express anger over Al-Fayed's killing.

Jenin Gov. Maj. Gen. Akram Rajoub told Arab News: "Al-Fayed, who was targeted and killed, was a young man who did not carry a weapon but was active on social media and in the ‘Wasp's Nest’ group, which conveys news of Jenin and the Israeli attacks against it, and they may have killed him for that reason.”

He said that many of those killed by the Israeli army in Jenin were not carrying weapons.

“We cannot understand what the Israelis want except to inflame people's anger and the continuation of attrition and killing to achieve Israel's goals and policy of prolonging its rule for as long as possible at the cost of Palestinian blood.”

Four Palestinians, including Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, have been killed by Israeli forces in the last two weeks. An Israeli soldier was also slain, and four soldiers and settlers were wounded.

With Al-Fayed's death, the number of Palestinian victims of Israeli brutality in Jenin and its camp has reached 20 since the beginning of 2022.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Israeli army has killed 55 Palestinians in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, since the start of this year.

In recent weeks, the Israeli armed forces, which have occupied the West Bank since 1967, have intensified their military operations in Jenin, especially in its camp, claiming that armed Palestinian factions are active there.

The incursions happen primarily during dawn and are interspersed with clashes between soldiers and Palestinian resistance fighters.

Last week, 13 Palestinians were wounded during an operation launched by the Israeli forces in the camp, in which a Palestinian and an Israeli soldier were killed.

PLO Executive Committee member Hussein Al-Sheikh welcomed the US State Department's call for a comprehensive and transparent investigation into the assassination of Abu Akleh after the Israeli decision to close her investigation file.

Earlier, 55 US Congressmen had signed a petition calling on the FBI to probe the circumstances of her death.