Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli forces in occupied West Bank
A Palestinian man has been shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the city of Tubas in the northern Jordan Valley, part of the occupied West Bank.
Saddam Hussein Abdel-Wali Bani Odeh was shot after Israeli forces had arrived in the city to arrest a suspect overnight Monday.
Local media reported that Bani Odeh was shot during “an exchange of fire” with Israeli soldiers.
The Islamic Jihad militant group told MEE that Bani Odeh was one of its fighters who had previously fought against Israeli forces.
Bani Odeh's cousin Nasser told Middle East Eye that he had been informed that Bani Odeh was injured at around 6am and that he was immediately transferred to the Turkish Tubas Hospital.
Laith Daragmeh, the emergency doctor at the hospital, told MEE that Bani Odeh was hit by a live bullet that penetrated his left shoulder and heart, and settled in his left lung.
Daragmeh confirmed that Bani Odeh had arrived in a "critical" condition at the hospital and was suffering from "acute bleeding".
He received CPR and a chest tube for breathing “but the bullet was fatal,” the doctor told MEE by phone.
'Real massacre'
Ahmed Mahasneh, a public relations and media officer in Tubas Governorate, described Bani Odeh's death as "an organised crime that Israel commits on a daily basis throughout the country, and that Tubas, its villages and camps are part of the homeland targeted by the [Israeli] occupation".
Mahasneh said that such night arrests, the terrorising of people, and shootings on a daily basis had become a phenomenon through which Israel was trying to bring the people to their knees and break their will.
He said that by shedding the blood of Palestinians, Israeli forces were disregarding all international agreements.
Mahasneh said that Tubas and its valleys were facing a "real massacre" through the demolishing of the homes and agricultural facilities of Bedouin citizens and the confiscation of their livestock.
He added that the Israeli military's violations were an attempt "to bring the residents to their knees and confiscate their land".
Loudspeakers in Tammun’s mosques could be heard calling for people to participate in Bani Odeh's funeral on Tuesday morning.
Muhammad Qteishat, a director of Tubas municipality, told MEE that Bani Odeh's "martyrdom indicates the depth of belonging and steadfastness against the occupation in defence of Tubas".
He said that Bani Odeh's funeral procession would begin at the Turkish Tubas Hospital and continue to his hometown of Tammun for people to pray over him, before his burial in the town's cemetery.
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