Israeli forces shot and killed a 22-year-old Palestinian and injured 12 others Monday night during clashes that broke out after a military jeep entered the Qalandiya camp.
Two soldiers were extricated from the camp after their military jeep was hit by a firebomb.
Qalandiya residents told Ma’an News that large numbers of Israeli soldiers were sent to the camp to rescue other soldiers who had entered it. According to locals, the soldiers were held by Palestinian gunmen before being evacuated by an Israeli military helicopter.
Violent clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers. According to a military spokesperson, Israeli soldiers opened fire on residents who were throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.
The spokesperson said that “a mob attacked a military vehicle” which was set ablaze by a firebomb. The two soldiers inside the jeep escaped by foot, and the Israeli army launched a search to extract the soldiers. “Riots erupted” between residents and military forces carrying out the search, the spokesperson added.
Iyad Omar Sajadiyya, a 22-year-old journalism student at al-Quds University in Abu Dis, was killed after being shot in the head. Red Crescent officials said ambulances evacuated 12 other young men for treatment, who were shot with live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets and hit with high velocity tear gas canisters. Medical officials said five Israeli officers were injured.
The Israeli army said it was still looking into why the military vehicle had initially entered the camp. Israeli media reported that an initial investigation suggests the soldiers entered Qalandiya camp by mistake. The two soldiers were travelling with the navigation application Waze, Haaretz reported.
Tensions in Qalandiya camp have been escalating in recent months. At least ten residents have been killed by Israeli forces since October. Some of them were killed while carrying out attacks against Israeli forces, while others were killed in clashes with the army.