Israeli forces shoot 2 during raid on Hebron area village

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) >Israeli forces on Thursday raided the village of Safa north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank shooting two Palestinians after clashes broke out. Muhammad Ayyad Awad an activist from the nearby town of Beit Ummar told Ma’an that clashes erupted when Israeli military forces stormed the home of Safa resident Saqir Badir Minim.

Soldiers reportedly deployed on the rooftop while searching the home targetting neighboring houses with tear gas.

Awad said Israeli military forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinian residents who attempted to prevent their entrance to the area.

A 25-year-old was shot in the right hand and another shot in the foot Awad told Ma’an adding that both were evacuated for medical treatment.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an they were looking into the reports.

Israeli forces regularly raid Palestinian towns and villages -- including those under Palestinian jurisdiction -- with the UN estimating a weekly average of 88 raids since the start of this year.

Clashes often break out during search raids leading to injury or death of Palestinian residents despite calls by international bodies for Israel to halt its use of oft-fatal crowd-control methods.

Two Palestinians have been shot during clashes this month alone both in towns located directly east from where Thursday's incidents took place.

A16-year-old was shot and killedafter reported throwing stones near Hebron's al-Arrub refugee camp and a21-year-old was shotduring clashes in Beit Fajjar.