Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – A Palestinian youth died on Saturday morning of wounds sustained two weeks ago when Israeli forces opened live fire on Palestinian protestors in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin.
Dr. Ghassan Hamdan, director of Medical Relief in Nablus, said that 19-year-old Karim Abu Sabih died in the al-Arabi hospital in Nablus of serious abdominal injuries. Abu Sabih was wounded the refugee camp during clashes that broke out there in a pre-dawn raid to arrest to arrest the Islamic Jihad leader sheikh Bassam al-Sa'di. The 17-year-old Majd Lahlouh was killed after he was shot in the chest during clashes with Israeli soldiers and Border Guard officers. Hamdan added that the 19-year-old Ala' Jamal Abu Khalifeh, who was also wounded during the clashes, is in serious condition at the al-Maqased hospital in occupied Jerusalem. Israel regularly carries out arrest raids throughout the West Bank, including in areas under full Palestinian Authority (PA)'s security control. The Palestinian Authority (PA) says that the daily Israeli raids in the West Bank cities and villages hinder its security forces to tighten their grip on the Palestinian territories. Israel does not allow the PA to have any security role in specific areas in the West Bank that the 1993 Oslo peace agreement between the two sides classified as C areas, which makes up more than 60 percent of the West Bank lands. According to the recent Palestinian statistics, Israel is holding 5,100 prisoners in 23 prisons and detention camps in Israel and in the West Bank. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas insists that prisoners must be freed in line with to the peace agreements reached with Israel. The development comes as Palestinian and Israeli negotiators held several US-mediated meetings since early August in an attempt to solve the final status issues; Jerusalem, refugees, boundaries, settlements and security The Palestinian leadership decided to suspend the direct peace talks with Israel in October 2010, after the latter insisted on keeping building settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The US hopes Israelis and Palestinians can reach a deal within nine months, though expectations on all sides are low.
