Nablus (Occupied West Bank): The family of teen killed by an illegal settler in the Occupied West Bank slammed the Zionist Regime in Israel saying its bombings and aggression against the Palestinians in the occupied territories are not about the October 7 Hamas attack.
“They claim that what is happening is about Hamas. My son was killed on October 6. There was no Hamas,” Mohammad Dmaidi said while talking to Al Jazeera.
Mohammad Dmaidi’s son Labib was shot dead by the illegal Israeli settler in Huwara on October 6, 2023 – a day before the Palestinian Resistance Fighters in a surprise attack stormed the occupied territories under the Zionist control through sea, land and air.
Huwara is surrounded by four illegal Israeli settlements and countless settler outposts, military checkpoints and bases. It has come under severe settler attacks and movement restrictions imposed by the Israeli army for more than a year and a half.
“When they burned down Huwara in February, there was no Hamas. When they attacked our house yet again two weeks after they killed my son, there was no Hamas,” he told the Doha bases broadcaster.
“Imagine that a minister of a state comes out and says to the media ‘erase Huwara’ – what world are we living in?” he asked.
Mohammad’s father and Labib’s grandfather, Dr. Nabil Dmaidi, was the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Al Najah University Nablus, Palestine. Dr. Nabil also worked in various capacities including the Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering, President Assistant, and also as Minister of Transport, Palestine.
Labib, 19, was in his second year of a graphic design degree at Palestine Technical University, Kadoorie in the nearby city of Tulkarm.
On the night of October 5 – and into the early hours of October 6 – dozens of Israeli settlers attacked the Dmaidi home which is situated on the Huwara road – the main artery running from the north to the south used by both Palestinians and settlers, Al Jazeera reported Friday.
“The settlers were gathered in front of our building and snipers standing on rooftops were shooting at people,” Labib’s mother Najlaa recalled, adding that the “army was with” the settlers and that they were firing tear gas into their home.
Some 25 family members, including 13 children, were inside when the attack took place. Labib was shot dead while standing on the roof of his uncle’s house just opposite his family’s building.
The Dmaidi family said their children are suffering from severe psychological pain due to the frequency of settler attacks and heavy militarisation of Huwara and the southern area of Nablus, which is also heavily populated with illegal settlements.
“My niece has a literal nervous breakdown when she sees the settlers. Particularly after the night Labib was killed, she falls to the ground and starts shaking,” said Mohammad, an Engineer.
“All the children of the family saw Labib lying on the ground on the street bleeding out after we carried him from the roof. It was horrific for them,” he explained.
The Israeli Occupied Forces meanwhile have killed more than 240 Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank besides killing over 15,100 in Gaza Strip since October 07, 2023.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, about 66% of the fatalities in the Occupied West Bank since October 7 have occurred during confrontations that followed Israeli search-and-arrest operations, primarily in Jenin and Tulkarm governorates; 24% have been in the context of demonstrations concerning Gaza; 7% have been killed while allegedly attacking Israeli forces or settlers; 2% have been killed in settler attacks against Palestinians; and 1% during punitive demolitions.
In the same period, the Israeli forces have injured 2,866 Palestinians in the West Bank, including at least 364 children, over half of them in the context of demonstrations, the health ministry said.
The Israeli army has also arrested more than 3,000 Palestinians from the West Bank since Oct 7 in addition to the already 5,200 Palestinians held in Israeli jails before October 7.
All this happened when some 210 Palestinian prisoners were released from the Israeli jails in exchange of about 81 Israeli hostages in Gaza from Nov 24 to 30, 2023 as part of the prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel.
The Israeli Occupation Forces have killed more than 100 Palestinians only today i.e. Friday December 01, 2023 after they resumed the bombing of Gaza Strip after seven days of truce deal.
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