November 22, 2015: Issam Thawabta, 34, was killed by Israeli soldiers near the illegal Gush Etzion Bloc, near Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army said Issam stabbed to death a 21-year-old Israeli woman near the settlement bloc of Gush Etzion.
An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an News Agency that, after the Palestinian stabbed the woman at the Gush Etzion junction, ‘forces on site responded to the imminent threat and shot the attacker, resulting in his death.’
The Israeli victim, identified as 21-year-old Hadar Buchrus, was evacuated to Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem where she was pronounced dead. A spokesperson for the hospital said: ‘She was brought to the hospital almost dead.’
A Ma’an reporter who was in the area during the attack said that he witnessed dozens of Israeli soldiers rushing to the hitchhiking station for Israeli settlers at the Gush Etzion junction, firing gunshots.
The soldiers then shut down the main bypass road known as Route 60.
After his death, dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded his home, and violently searched it, causing excessive damage.
Thawabta was the third Palestinian to be killed on Sunday, after another two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli settlers in two separate incidents on Sunday morning.
A Palestinian taxi driver was shot and killed by a settler near the illegal Israeli settlement of Kfar Adumim in the central West Bank after he ran into another car on a main road, and allegedly got out ‘with a knife in his hand,’ Israeli police said.
Less than an hour earlier, a prominent Israeli settler ran over a 16-year-old Palestinian girl near Nablus, saying that he believed she intended to carry out a stabbing attack at Huwwara checkpoint. After she was hit by the car, another Israeli settler then shot her multiple times while she was lying on the ground.
The teenager was identified as Ashraqat Taha Ahmad Qatanani from Nablus, while Israeli media identified the man who ran her over as Gershon Mesika, the former head of the ‘Samaria regional council,’ which represents Israel’s illegal settlements in the northern West Bank.
After running the girl over with his car and driving into a ditch, Mesika got out of his car and shot the girl. Israeli forces also opened fire on her.
More than 90 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of October — many shot dead under circumstances which rights groups said that Israeli forces used unnecessary force — while at least 16 Israelis have been killed in the same period.
The Gush Etzion junction in particular has been the site of several deadly encounters, including a shooting attack on Thursday that resulted in the death of two Israelis and one Palestinian bystander, and the injury of ten others.
In response, Israeli officials agreed on Thursday to increase security measures inside the settlement bloc, including increased restrictions on the movement of Palestinians.
Israeli news site Ynet reported that the measures could include the temporary restriction of movement of Palestinians in the area, the deployment of extra Israeli security forces, and the construction of a ‘fence’ along certain roads.
The measures come after a meeting between the Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Yaalon, the Israeli army’s chief of staff, and the mayor of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, an administrative body for illegal settlements in the area.
The regional council also urged settlers who own firearms to voluntarily accompany children on school buses to assist as first responders after attacks.
Issam was from Beit Fajjar south of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank. Source: IMEMC
May 20, 2017: Fatima Jibril Taqatqa, 15, died from serious wounds she suffered on March 15, 2017, when an Israeli soldier shot her after she lost control of a car she was driving and struck a median at the Etzion settlement junction south of Bethlehem in the West Bank.
April 19, 2017: Soheib Mousa Mashahra, 21, was killed by Israeli army fire after his car crashed into the rear of an Israeli bus near Etzion junction, south of Bethlehem in the West Bank.
April 15, 2014: Noha Mohammad Qatamesh, 46, was killed by Israeli forces who fired a tear gas canister near her home in Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem during a protest.