© FacebookOne of the popular photos circulating on social media reads "In 24 hours, four martyrs," with photos of the deceased below
On Tuesday evening, around 7:00 pm, Israeli forces raided the Ramallah-area Abwein village in the central West Bank, in search of 19-year-old Omar Abu Laila, who was believed to be responsible for an attack over the weekend that left one Israeli soldier and a settler dead.
After besieging the village and surrounding the house where Abu Laila had been hiding, Israeli forces engaged in a lengthy shootout, eventually shooting and killing the teenager.
Local media reported that several local youth from Abwein were injured with live ammunition in clashes with Israeli forces during their operation in the town.
As of Thursday, Abu Laila's body had yet to be returned to his family.
Nablus: Raed Hashem Muhammad Hamdan, 21, and Zaid Imad Muhammad Nuri, 20
Just hours later, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Israelis forces shot dead Raed Hashem Muhammad Hamdan, 21, and Zaid Imad Muhammad Nuri, 20, while they were driving in their car.
The shooting took place as Israeli forces were escorting buses of extreme right-wing Israeli settlers to visit Joseph's Tomb in Nablus.
Ma'an News Agency said that more than 1,000 Israeli settlers had entered Joseph's Tomb area, and that "Israeli forces went up rooftops of surrounding buildings to secure the settlers' visit."
Israeli media and security officials reported that the two young men were shot after Molotov cocktails were thrown from their vehicle at soldiers deployed in the area.
Quds News Network reported that after opening fire on their vehicle, and Israeli bulldozer was deployed to "crush" and move the vehicle.
Video published by the news outlet shows the bulldozer moving the crushed car down a street.
Both Hamdan and Nuri were laid to rest in a massive funeral procession in Nablus on Wednesday afternoon.
Bethlehem: Ahmad Manasrah, 26
As Palestinian social media flooded with images of Abu Laila, Hamdan, and Nuri, throughout Wednesday, the face of another young "martyr" began to surface: 26-year-old Ahmad Manasrah from the Bethlehem-area village of Wadi Fukin.
Manasrah was shot and killed near a checkpoint and major traffic junction on the southern end of Bethlehem city.
Local media reported that Israeli forces at the al-Nashash checkpoint opened fire on a vehicle carrying a Palestinian family, critically injuring the father in the stomach, and also injuring the mother, and a child.
It remained unclear as to why Israeli forces stationed at the checkpoint opened fire on the family's car.
As the story goes, Manasrah, who was driving behind the family, jumped out of his vehicle in attempts to help the family. When he did, Israeli forces opened fire on him, reportedly shooting him several times in the abdomen.
Manasrah was transferred to the Beit Jala Government Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Funeral processions are set to take place this afternoon in his village of Wadi Fukin.
Comment: The IDF has since opened a 'probe' into the circumstances surrounding Ahmad Manasrah's death. According to them he was guilty of 'throwing rocks indiscriminately' and this is why he was gunned down mercilessly. Sputnik reports more:
The Israel Defense Forces announced Thursday that they had launched a probe into the apparent shooting death of a Palestinian man by IDF soldiers near Bethlehem. [...]
In a statement, the IDF said, "The incident began Wednesday night at the Efrat junction at the southern end of Bethlehem when an IDF soldier identified a suspect who threw stones at vehicles in the area," according to the Jerusalem Post. IDF soldiers attempted to arrest the suspect, but opened fire when the suspect or suspects didn't comply, the force claims. The IDF is apparently investigating the possibility that Manasra was throwing stones indiscriminately at cars on the road, not targeting Israeli or IDF vehicles.
Manasra's family calls the allegation that he was throwing rocks ridiculous and that there was no reason for the IDF to open fire. "All the testimonies and circumstances attest that Ahmed was murdered in cold blood," Haaretz quoted an unnamed relative as saying.
Manasra's family says instead that the slain man was simply trying to help relatives after they were involved in a road accident, Haaretz reports. Palestinian News Network (PNN), citing eyewitnesses, says IDF soldiers stationed in a military tower on Bethlehem's edge, near al-Khader village, shot at a vehicle carrying a Palestinian family, wounding the driver. Manasra, driving behind, got out of his car to take the wounded man to the hospital, where he remains in critical condition. When Manasra went back to aid the man's wife and children, he was shot dead by soldiers, they said.
Day of Rage
A general strike and day of mourning was declared in cities across the West Bank on Thursday, with many businesses, public transportation, schools, and universities closed for the day.
Protests are expected to take place at checkpoints and points of friction with Israeli soldiers across the West Bank on Thursday and into the weekend.
Palestinian political factions in the West Bank have called for a "day of rage" to be held on Friday.
Dead men cannot defend themselves against lies. This is why the Israelis would prefer to shoot Palestinians dead than to just injure them. Then any lie can be told, and has already been absolved in the synagogue at the last Passover, when the congregation chanted three times this prayer, the most sacred prayer in Judaism:
"With the consent of the Almighty, and consent of this congregation, in a convocation of the heavenly court, and a convocation of the lower court, we hereby grant permission to pray with transgressors. All vows, and things we have made forbidden on ourselves, and oaths, and items we have consecrated to the Temple, and vows issued with the expression “konum,” and vows which are abbreviated, and vows issued with the expression “kanos,” that we have vowed, and sworn, and dedicated, and made forbidden upon ourselves; from this Yom Kippur until next Yom Kippur—may it come to us at a good time—We regret having made them may they all be permitted, forgiven, eradicated and nullified, and may they not be valid or exist any longer. Our vows shall no longer be vows, and our prohibitions shall no longer be prohibited, and our oaths are no longer oaths."
This means Jews are permitted to lie, cheat, steal and do murder, and no blame or censure from the Almighty will fall upon them because all is forgiven in advance. Murdering Palestinians is preferable to wounding them, as then Jewish lies about the dead cannot be gainsaid.