Israeli armed forces on Sunday killed four people when they tried to plant bombs near the Golan Heights on the country’s border with war-torn Syria, a security source said. The incident occurred at night near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli occupied Golan, AFP reported.
The army said on its Twitter account that the operation targeted forces armed with explosives who “were en route to imminent attack on our forces.”
Israel seized 1,200 sq. kilometers of the Golan from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and annexed it in 1981 in a move never recognized by the international community. There has been repeated shooting across the ceasefire line since the uprising in Syria erupted in March 2011, some of it stray.
Israeli authorities also invited tenders on Monday for the construction of 77 homes in settlement neighborhoods of annexed east Beit al-Muqaddas, settlement watchdog Peace Now said.
Peace Now spokeswoman said it was the first such announcement in the Beit al-Muqaddas area since a March 17 general election win by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightwing Likud party.
Hundreds in Palestinian Teen’s Funeral
Hundreds of Palestinians participated early Monday in a funeral procession of a teenager who was killed by Israeli police two days earlier in East Beit al-Muqaddas.
Israeli police present at the scene fired teargas at the mourners and clashed with several of them after the end of the funeral, eyewitnesses told The Anadolu Agency. Early Saturday, Israeli forces shot Abu Ghanim at Al-Zaim checkpoint in East Beit al-Muqaddas.
Police said in a statement that the teenager was shot after running towards an Israeli checkpoint bearing a knife. Abu Ghanim’s father, for his part, cast doubts on the Israeli police narrative of the killing.
Israeli authorities have been stalling the handover of Abu Ghanim’s body to his family until they agreed on limiting the number of funeral participants to 70.
Meaniwhile, Israeli forces continued to carry out raids on West Bank villages, frequently rounding up groups of young Palestinian men on claims they are “wanted” by Israeli authorities.
