JORDAN VALLEY, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Two Palestinian children were killed and three others were injured on Tuesday when a projectile left by the Israeli occupation army detonated in the central Jordan Valley, north of Jericho.
Mayor of al-Jiftlik village Ahmad Ghawanmeh reported that five children from the village were in the nearby village of Furush Beit Dajan when the Israeli projectile exploded.
Ghawanmeh added that the blast killed two children and left three others critically wounded. He noted that there were no precise details yet about their names or the nature of their injuries.
The mayor affirmed that Israeli forces sealed off the area after the incident, deployed reinforcements, and evacuated the children by helicopter to Israeli hospitals.
Local sources said the children had been collecting the wild plant “Akkoub” in the area when the suspicious object exploded, injuring them. The exact nature of their injuries and further details about their condition remain unclear, as they are currently in Israeli custody.
The Israeli army stated in a press release that its forces “headed to the Jordan Valley following a report of three Palestinians injured while playing with remnants of munitions.
The army claimed the site is a “military training zone, dangerous, and strictly prohibited for entry,” and said an investigation into the incident would be launched.
In another incident, a Palestinian man was injured on Tuesday by settler gunfire in the village of al-Rashayida, east of Bethlehem.
Local sources reported that a group of armed settlers stormed al-Rashayida and grazed their sheep on swaths of land belonging to local residents.
When residents tried to stop them, the settlers opened fire, injuring Salama Rashayida with a bullet in the foot.
The sources added that the settlers also severely beat and injured Ayyoub, the son of the wounded man.
