Evidence of Extra-Judicial Executions - 11 year old girl killed by sniper - 35 injured – 6 Killed in Nablus, 4 in Jenin


(AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

Israeli military operations in Nablus and Jenin today have resulted “in the highest Palestinian death toll in the West Bank for months” according to the BBC, while Haaretz is claiming that today’s killings constitute “the highest single-day Palestinian death toll in the West Bank for more than two years” (although that claim is disputable). Early this morning Shayetet 13 commandoes raided a building near Old Najah Street in an area of Nablus inhabited by many Christian families not far from the Latin Convent. Backed by tanks, Apaches, and armored vehicles Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian militants for two hours. Several homes were occupied in the area, including the Latin Convent itself. By 5am, five Palestinian resistance activists from the Al-Aqsa Brigades and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) were dead – including Nader Aswad (22), the new leader of the Al-Aqsa Brigades in Nablus, Abdel Halim Salem (22), Munham Abu Jamileh (24), Halim Aqqad (22), and Mohamed Mareh (23) - while another fighter on the scene is reported to have escaped. Medical teams were blocked from reaching the bodies by Israeli troops in the area until 11am. They were only allowed to pass after the IDF had ensured free passage for a D9 bulldozer, which was brought into Nablus to demolish part of the house used by the fighters. While medical teams were evacuating the bodies of the dead, 11-year old Mariam Al-Nakhleh, who was watching the medical teams from her balcony, was inexplicably shot in the head by an IDF sniper. The news of the killings sparked clashes between military units deployed throughout the city and stone throwing shebab since the morning. At least 35 people were injured in the ensuing confrontations. What fallows is a detailed report of today’s events.   more »