LOC13:41
10:41 GMT
By Nojoud Al-Qassem
RAMALLAH, Jan 7 (KUNA) -- Israeli troops on Friday shot dead in cold blood
an elderly Palestinian while the 66-year-old man was asleep in his bed,
relatives of the deceased said.
They said the soldiers burst into their house early Friday and opened fire
at Omar Al-Qawasmi while he was sleeping in his bed, in Al-Sheikh district in
the city of Hebron.
The troops took the body of the slain man and delivered it to the
Palestinian Red Crescent, they said, adding that the soldiers, before leaving
the house with the body of the dead old man, stormed the basement, arresting
Wael Al-Bitar, a suspected activist.
Medical sources at Al-Khalil Hospital, where the body was delivered, said
the corpse was riddled with gunfire shots in various parts.
Also in Hebron, the Israeli forces arrested six Palestinians, freshly
released by the Palestinian Authority. The former inmates were on hunger
strike behind bars, before President Mahmoud Abbas ordered their release.
However, they re-experience freedom only for a few hours.
Hebron Governor Kamel hamid said "the execution of Al-Qawasami" and the
arrest of the six Palestinians were intended to incite the people against the
Palestinian authority of President Abbas.
The Islamic group, Islamic Jihad, condemned "this crime" and held Israel
responsible for the forecast dire consequences. It also lashed out at Abbas'
authority for being bound with "security commitments with Israel."
In a related incident on the troubled arena, Jewish settlers uprooted 100
small olive trees in the vicinity of the West Bank town of Nablus, witnessed
told the Kuwaiti news agency, KUNA. The settlers stole the plants with the
apparent intention of re-planting them in their settlements, they added.
The incident occurred a day after settlers occupied 65 donums of
agricultural lands near Nablus.
Recurring incidents and high tension have been prevalent in the region,
with absence of any progress on the negotiating track.
Abbas had urged sponsor of the peace process, the US, to coerce Israel halt
construction of settlements to revive the process and scuttle bids by
extremists to capitalize on the violence to promote their ideology of
radicalization. (end)
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KUNA 071341 Jan 11NNNN