WEST BANK: Israeli soldiers shoot dead two Palestinians in separate incidents

Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinian men in separate West Bank incidents on Sunday (September 16). Israeli forces shot dead Yusuf al-Asi, a Palestinian militant belonging to President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, during a raid on the West Bank city of Nablus, local medics said. An Israeli army spokesman said that troops operating in the area of the Balata refugee camp fired at two gunmen and identified hitting them. Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the al-Asi had belonged to their group, and that Israeli soldiers had shot him during a raid. Medics also confirmed he had been killed, and said another gunman had also been shot, but was wounded. In a separate incident in the city of Hebron in the West Bank, one Palestinian man, Baha al-Azuni, was shot dead by Israeli forces, and five were wounded. The violence began after two families involved in a long-standing dispute engaged in a gunbattle. The fight erupted nearby to an Israeli settlement, and soon after Israeli army forces were engaged in the fight. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the troops shot two armed Palestinians who were involved in the clashes which caused damage to several military vehicles and the outer wall of a Jewish settlement in the city of Hebron. She did not give further details. Some 650 Israelis live in heavily-guarded enclaves in Hebron, home to about 180,000 Palestinians, and have long sought to expand the Jewish presence in the city.

ITN Source | September 16, 2007

Tags:. .men. .group. .another. .fight. .during