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Israeli forces kill Palestinian in West Bank protest

According to the Palestinian Authority, Atef Yousef Hanaysha, 45, was shot in the head in the village of Beit Dajan
Palestinians carry fellow protester Atef Hanaysha on 19 March 2021 after he was reportedly shot in the head by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank village of Beit Dajan (Social media handout)

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man during a demonstration in the northern occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Authority (PA) announced.

The PA Ministry of Health identified the slain man as 45-year-old Atef Yousef Hanaysha, adding that Israeli forces opened fire on demonstrators during a protest in the Nablus-area village of Beit Dajan against the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the area.

According to official PA news agency Wafa, Hanaysha was shot in the head with live ammunition, and rushed to a Nablus hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Footage taken from the scene showed fellow protesters carrying Hanaysha away on the scene.

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The village of Beit Dajan is the site of weekly protests against the Israeli occupation, which are often suppressed by Israeli forces.

While the village lands spread across approximately 6,650 acres, according to the Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem, large swathes of territory east of the village have been confiscated by Israel, labelled military zones and turned into the site for military bases and settlements, which are illegal under international law.

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