Image: Palestinian youths clash with Israeli police at the entrance to the town of Kfar Kanna, northern Israel, on November 8, 2014.
Fresh clashes have erupted between Israeli troops and angry Palestinian protesters in the Galilee region of northern Israel, one day after Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian youth
A protest was staged in the village of Kafr Kanna on Sunday to censure the fatal shooting of the 22-year-old Palestinian man, identified as Khair al-Din Hamdan, for allegedly attacking an Israeli police car with a knife.
Residents of the village set tires on fire, and scattered rocks on the roads. An unknown person also threw a Molotov cocktail, causing a fire in the area.
Scuffles broke out between Palestinian stone throwers and the police force stationed nearby. Israeli military forces then fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
At least 17 Palestinian protesters, almost half of them minors, were arrested during the clashes.
Palestinian protesters argue that they will keep holding demonstrations against Hamdan’s killing until the Israeli soldiers, who shot him dead are brought to justice.
Israeli forces claim that the young Palestinian was shot during an arrest raid. They say they first fired into the air to warn the young man and shot him in the chest later, when they felt threatened.
However, footage, which surfaced after the incident, shows an Israeli serviceman stepping out of his car and directly shooting at Hamdan, who is seen retreating. The Palestinian succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.
The incident comes as tensions have been running high at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) over the past few weeks.
Palestinians are extremely angry at Tel Aviv’s raids as well as its new restrictions on the access of Palestinians to the mosque, considering the move as part of the Israeli regime’s plan to Judaize and desecrate the holy Islamic site.
