(MENAFN- Palestine News Network )
Nablus /PNN /
A Palestinian was Sunday evening killed by Israeli settlers in the village of Za'tara, south of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement that Sameh Aqtash, 37, was killed after he was shot with a live bullet during an assault by Israeli settlers and forces in the said village.
Nablus-area villages and towns are currently under massive attacks by Israeli forces and settlers, which resulted so far in killing one Palestinian, injuring more than a 100 and setting fire to dozens of homes, vehicles and structures.
With the killing of Aqtash, the number of Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of 2023 rises to 66, including four killed by Israeli settlers' gunfire, 13 children, four elderlies and one prisoner behind Israeli bars.
In another Israeli attack tow Palestinian civil defense officiers were Sunday evening injured after they were assaulted by Israeli settlers, who stoned the fire engine they were in, in the village of Huwara, south of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.
Officer Ma'moun al-Burini told WAFA that civil defense crews received a call asking for help extinguishing the fire that Israeli settlers set to a Palestinian house, but when they arrived to the entrance of the town, they were stoned by about 50 settlers.
He added that the settlers also stoned the fire engine and injured two officers.
– The Palestinian Presidency condemned the terrorist acts carried out by Israeli settlers, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, in villages of Huwara, Burin, Einbus and other areas, which resulted in injuring
more than 100 Palestinians and burning shops, homes, cars and other public properties.
The Presidency affirmed that this terrorism and whoever stands behind it aims to destroy and thwart the international efforts exerted to try to get out of the current crisis.
The Palestinian presidency held the Israeli government fully responsible for this terrorism, saying 'it confirms the lack of confidence in the promises made related to stopping settler terrorism and attacks on Palestinian citizens, and that what the settlers have done today is a translation of the positions of some ministers in this extreme right-wing Israeli government.'
The presidency affirms that 'we stand at a crossroads, either for the international community to assume its responsibilities, led by the United States of America, by obliging the Israeli government to stop its aggressions and stop the crimes of settlers immediately, or else the situation will enter into a circle of action and reaction.