Middle East: violence spreads from the Palestinian Territories to Israel

Text by: RFI Follow

During the night of February 5 to 6, in the center of Jerusalem, a car crashed into the crowd, injuring 14 people. Police have launched an investigation into a "terrorist attack". Hamas hails this attack as a "response" to the American plan. In addition, protests continue in all the Palestinian Territories.

Publicity

The facts occurred at the “First station”, one of the attractions of the nightlife of the holy city, located in West Jerusalem, where there are many bars and restaurants.

“ Police units and rescuers arrived on the scene and are trying to find the vehicle. An investigation into the act of terrorism has been opened, "said Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld, quoted by AFP.

Rescuers said that of the 14 injured, one was seriously injured and several others suffered from trauma. The majority of them are Israeli soldiers, the army said.

The American peace project

The incident comes just over a week after the announcement of the US plan for the Middle East, which includes making Jerusalem the "indivisible" capital of Israel. According to this plan promoted by Donald Trump , the Hebrew state could also annex Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, particularly in the Jordan Valley. The project also provides for the creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state over what remains of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The plan was widely praised in Israel , but lambasted in the Palestinian Territories , both by the secular Fatah of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, expected next week at the UN, and by Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip.

Real shots

On February 5, a 17-year-old Palestinian man was killed by a gunshot by Israeli forces. He is the first victim since the revelation of Donald Trump's peace plan a week ago, when protests have continued in all of the Palestinian Territories since then.

The young man was in Hebron, one of the most sensitive cities in the south of the occupied West Bank, and, according to the Israeli army, he threw a Molotov cocktail at soldiers, who responded with live fire. The young Palestinian died after being quickly transferred to the hospital, reports our correspondent in Ramallah, Alice Froussard .

If the demonstrations had already injured a dozen, there had been no death since the announcement of the Trump plan in a context of daily tension in the Palestinian Territories. Monday, February 3, in the same place, a young protester caught a rubber bullet in his eyes.

In Gaza, protests continue, factions have been calling for no backlash. In Ramallah, on the outskirts of the city, near the Beit El checkpoint , we mainly see young people throwing stones, soldiers who respond with tear gas, there are also burnt tires to make roadblocks.

Another death

One Palestinian man was killed and seven others injured in clashes with the Israeli army early Thursday, February 6, in Jenin, in the northern occupied West Bank, official sources and witnesses said. According to the official Palestinian agency Wafa, the 19-year-old Palestinian was killed by an Israeli shot. An AFP photographer on the spot saw the body of the young man killed at the Jenin hospital, where dozens of men chanted " martyr ", transporting the body on a stretcher.

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