Two Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces in Jerusalem, occupied West Bank, third killed in Gaza

Two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces on Thursday morning, one near the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and the other in the occupied West Bank. 

Local sources told The New Arab that 22-year-old Alaa Zyoud was shot dead by Israeli soldiers just before dawn near the town centre of Burqin, near Jenin.

"Israeli forces entered Burqin before dawn to arrest a local resident, where armed men clashed with them," said Tareq Samarah, a local resident of Burqin.

"Alaa Zyoud was running towards the site of the clashes, apparently armed, when an Israeli sniper shot him twice in the neck and in the leg. Then a group of soldiers approached him while he was bleeding and shot him five times from a close distance."

Alaa Zyoud’s body was buried at Sileh Harthiyeh, the hometown of Jenin at midday on Thursday.

"Most businesses in Sileh Harithiyeh and Burqin are closed as a sign of mourning," Samarah said.

In Jerusalem, Palestinian mother-of-four Israa Khaled was killed by Israeli police forces near one of the entrances to Al-Aqsa mosque.

Israeli police alleged that she tried to stab Israelí officers.

Rinad Sharabati, a Palestinian journalist and resident of Jerusalem, told The New Arab that shots were heard near one of the entrances to the Al-Aqsa compound at around 6:30am.

"Locals rushed to the scene to find Israa Khaled lying on the floor bleeding," Sharabati said.

According to Sharabati, Israa was leaving Al-Aqsa mosque after prayer when she encountered the Israeli officers.

Israeli police shut down the Old City after the fatal shooting for around two hours, blocking  access to Al-Aqsa compound.

Sharabati said that "the situation in Jerusalem came back to normal around midday, but the Israeli police and soldiers continue to randomly search by-passers, especially young people".

Tensions have been mounting over the past weeks in the West Bank and Jerusalem, added to by a jailbreak by six Palestinians who escaped from the Gilboa prison in early September.

Two of the recaptured jailbreakers were recaptured in the Jenin refugee camp, and the Israeli army has repeatedly raided Palestinian towns in the Jenin area, including Burqin.

In Jerusalem, the Israeli police have shut down the Old City and several Palestinian neighbourhoods on an almost daily basis in the past week, as Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa compound during a period of Jewish religious festivities.

"Shut-downs are accompanied by random searches in the old city, and preventing Palestinians from accessing Al-Aqsa compound," Sharabati said.

In the besieged Gaza Strip, a 41-year-old Palestinian was shot in the neck while hunting birds close to the Israeli border fence, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Ammar had been working in the Bureij municipality for 15 years and was on a four-day vacation, local sources told The New Arab. He was a father of eight.