Palestinian Authority cuts security ties with Israel after tenth person killed
The Palestinian Authority announced it was cutting security ties with Israel on Thursday after Israeli forces killed ten Palestinians in a single day.
"Security coordination with the Israeli occupation government no longer exists as of now," read a statement from president Mahmud Abbas's office.
Early morning raids on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city left nine Palestinians dead.
Later in the day, Israeli forces fired at Palestinian demonstrators in the town of Al-Ram, north of Jerusalem, who had come out to protest against the killings. One man was killed.
The Palestinian health ministry late on Thursday named him as 22-year old Youssef Yahya Abdul Karim Muhaisen.
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Heavily armed soldiers, reportedly in a commercial truck, entered the Jenin camp on Thursday morning and opened fire on residents attempting to block their entry.
Several other army vehicles, including bulldozers, then entered the area and targeted a building used as a meeting place for residents.
The latest fatalities bring the number of Palestinians killed this year to 30, including four children.
Abbas's office said the killings amounted to "a massacre from the Israeli occupation government, in the shadow of international silence".
"This is what encourages the occupation government to commit massacres against our people in full view of the world," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for Abbas.
The president declared three days of national mourning and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast.
The last time the PA made such an announcement was in May of 2020, following the revelation of Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank as part of US President Donald Trump's controversial proposals for the region.
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