By Victor Akan
Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces killed a father and his son in Jenin on Friday amid an ongoing crackdown on anti-Israel resistance groups in the occupied West Bank city.
The slain man was identified as Mahmoud al-Jalqamousi. His son Qasem Mahmoud al-Jalqamousi was also killed, reported local media.
They became the seventh and eighth Jenin residents to be killed by PA forces since the campaign against resistance groups in Jenin began on 5 December.
They were shot dead when they stepped onto the rooftop of their house in the Jenin refugee camp, which has been under PA siege since the crackdown began, local reports said.
Meanwhile, Palestinian security services spokesman Anwar Rajab announced that Major Rashid Shako, a member of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service, was also killed on Friday in Jenin in an “accidental incident”.
At least six members of the Palestinian security forces have been killed in Jenin in less than a month, including some in exchanges of fire.
The PA says the campaign against Jenin, which it says targets armed anti-occupation groups, is part of an effort to restore law and order against “outlaws”.
Armed anti-occupation groups in Jenin have rejected the labels used against them by the PA, saying their resistance against Israeli troops is legitimate.
Intermittent clashes between armed groups and the PA forces have been reported over the past month, leading to several deaths on both sides.
However, PA forces have also directly killed unarmed civilians.
At the start of the campaign, a Palestinian officer shot dead a teenager riding on his bicycle, who did not pose any threat to the officer as footage of his killing showed.
PA forces also killed Shatha al-Sabbagh, 21, a female journalist, last week, according to her family.
Critics silenced
The PA’s campaign has sparked widespread unrest in the West Bank, with critics of the crackdown brutally silenced by Palestinian security forces.
Disturbing videos published last month showed officers abusing citizens for expressing opposition to the crackdown.
One video shows a handcuffed and blindfolded young man being thrown into a garbage container, while security personnel assaulted and cursed him.
Another clip depicts a detainee being slapped and beaten in the face while his head is covered with a plastic bag.
In further footage, two detainees, bound and blindfolded, are forced to face a wall with one leg raised.
They are made to chant, “God, President Abu Mazen,” in a scene reminiscent of tactics used by the government of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Ramallah-based Independent Commission For Human Rights said the reported abuses violate the law and human rights and called for a thorough investigation.
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