Three Palestinians died Monday in the occupied West Bank in clashes with the Israeli army in two different locations, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Two men in their 20s died during an Israeli army operation in the southern Hebron region of Dura, witnesses told an AFP journalist, saying they saw Palestinian youths throwing stones and heard gunshots.
"All of a sudden, soldiers came into our town and started shooting at people without warning," Mohammed Rabaei, director of the Dura hospital, told AFP. Nine people were injured, four of whom are in critical condition, according to the Health Ministry. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army did not immediately comment.
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To the north, in the Tulkarm area, another Palestinian was killed, according to the Health Ministry. Since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has experienced a level of violence not seen since the second intifada (2000-2005).
'Members of Hamas student cells'
On Sunday night, the Israeli army also carried out a security operation in the Al-Najah University in Nablus, arresting several students, Israeli and Palestinian sources said. "Nine wanted persons" were "hiding" in the university compound, the Israeli army said, adding that they were "members of Hamas student cells."
The Israeli military added that it was "detaining many other suspects" in connection with the action against "terrorist groups made up of students from Hamas cells... who operate in universities" in the occupied West Bank. A university official said 25 people had been arrested, calling for their immediate release.
VIDEO. Two children aged 9 and 15 killed by Israeli army in West Bank
According to a Palestinian security source who requested anonymity, the arrests came after social media posts and "a collective prayer in solidarity with the resistance in Gaza." It was held after a televised address by a spokesman for Hamas' military-terrorist wing on the 100th day of the Gaza war on Sunday.