A paramedic was killed in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, April 21, on his way to evacuate people wounded during a violent attack by settlers, according to the Palestinian Authority health ministry. Palestinian media reported that a group of settlers had arrived at the town of As-Sawiya near the settlement of Eli on Saturday afternoon and began throwing stones.
Shortly after the clashes began, occupation troops arrived and began firing at the Palestinians and a 50-year-old paramedic, Mohammad Awadallah was murderer by armed settlers.
Thousands of Palestinians attend the funeral procession of slain paramedic Mohammad Awadallah, murdered by settler militias in the village of Al-Sawiya, south of Nablus, Saturday 21, 2024 (Photo: Al-Quds network)
A resident of As-Sawiya told WAFA that the army only arrived at the scene after a group of Palestinian residents chased the settlers away. He said that the soldiers and settlers stood together on a hill some 500 meters from the Palestinians when the troops opened fire.
The PA health ministry said the paramedic was killed by Israeli gunfire as he was making his way to transport people injured during the attack. A medic who was in the ambulance when he was shot was shot by Israeli soldiers.
According MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash), “One Palestinian murdered and several more injured in an attack by armed settlers on the village of Al-Sawiya in the occupied West Bank. And the occupation forces are joining in – some actively, some by standing by. For months, settler terrorism has gone unchecked, with the support and encouragement of this bloody government. Stop the occupation and settler terrorism!”
Today, Sunday, a nationwide strike is being observed today across Palestine in protest of the massacre carried out by Israeli occupation forces in the Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm governorate. The Ministry of Health announced tonight the arrival of 13 Palestinian fatalities at the Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarm, north of the West Bank, in the aftermath of the deadly Israeli onslaught on Nour Shams refugee camp in the city. The ministry said with the latest figures, the total number of citizens killed since the beginning of the Israeli offensive in the camp has risen to 14. Medical teams and ambulance crews were only able to enter the camp tonight following a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from the camp after a 48-long onslaught.
The 14 victims were identified as Ahmed Ghaleb Ali, 24, Salim Faisal Ghannam, 29, Qais Nasrallah, 16, Alaa Abdel Rahim, 35, Jaafar Salim Omar, 20 years old, Ahmed Hossam Shehadeh, 20, Omar Saleh Abu Al-Rub, 24, Ali Mohammad Abdullah, 25, Jihad Niyaz Jaber, 17, Rajai Abu Sweilem, 39, Mujahid Al-Salta, Ali Abdel Rahim, Mahmoud Ghanem, and Nassim Musabih, 21 years old. In addition to the 14 fatalities, Israeli army bulldozers carried out extensive demolition and destruction of infrastructure and properties, targeted the camp’s bakery, commercial shops, houses, and walls, and destroyed several vehicles.
Today’s strike includes all aspects of life, with schools, universities, and commercial shops, banks, and factories closed. Public transportation is also witnessing a strike on all routes. The strike comes at the call of Fatah movement, which also called on all Palestinians to unite in support of their brethren in Tulkarm and Gaza who are facing a brutal Israeli aggression. The Teachers’ Union also announced today as a day of comprehensive strike in all schools, directorates of education, and the Ministry of Education. The General Union of Transport Workers also declared general strike in condemnation of the Israeli aggression targeting innocent civilians and violating human rights.
In addition, occupation forces detained 50 Palestinians, including wounded, the majority of whom were released following field investigations with them, during the brutal aggression that lasted for about three days on Nour Shams refugee camp, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said in a statement.
The PPS explained that Tulkarm Governorate and its two camps, Nour Shams and Tulkarm, saw several invasions after the 7th of October, during which the occupation army carried out crimes and widespread arrests, the largest in the governorate since the second Intifada. It added that the arrests amounted to over 500 as well as hundreds of citizens who were subjected to field investigation operations, which targeted all groups, including women, children, the elderly, the wounded, and the sick. According to the data available to the PPS, the number of those detained by the occupation from Nour Shams camp during the incursions is over 100 citizens from the camp only.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31758
