WEST BANK,(Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested on Thursday evening the father of martyr Mahmoud Abed, one of the perpetrators of the Gush Etzion stabbing and shooting attack earlier in the day that resulted in the killing of an Israeli soldier.
A large Israeli force stormed the town of Halhul from multiple directions, raided the home of martyr Mahmoud Abed’s family, fired numerous stun grenades and tear gas canisters, and arrested his father, Yousef, before withdrawing.
The IOF also imposed a curfew on the village of Bazaria, northwest of Nablus.
Taysir Frasin, head of the Bazaria village council, said that Israeli forces stormed the village, imposed a curfew, assaulted residents, and raided several homes.
He added that the IOF conducted a field investigation with the family of martyr Malek Salem, who was declared killed earlier in the day south of Bethlehem.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced in a statement that the General Authority for Civil Affairs had informed it of the martyrdom of two young men: Mahmoud Youssef Mohammed Abed, 23, and Malek Ibrahim Abdul Jabbar Salem, 23, after Israeli forces shot them south of Bethlehem.
The Israeli army said in a statement that two Palestinians arrived at the Gush Etzion settlement and carried out a shooting and stabbing attack, resulting in the injury of an Israeli soldier who was later pronounced dead.
The statement added: “Israeli army forces and other security personnel at the scene shot and killed them.”
For its part, Magen David Adom reported that a 20-year-old Israeli soldier was critically injured in the attack before later succumbing to his wounds.
Israeli Army Radio explained that the deceased was working as a security guard at the shopping complex where the attack occurred, while the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that his name was Shalio Zvuloni, 22, a reservist in the Israeli army.
