Israeli soldier killed by stone while invading West Bank town

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): During a pre-dawn invasion of the northern West Bank on Tuesday, a 21-year old Israeli soldier was killed by Palestinians who dropped a large stone from a rooftop on his head while he was in the street. The soldier who was killed was identified as Staff Sgt. Amit Ben Ygal.

According to the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, Ygal was among a battalion of soldiers with the Golani Brigade who invaded the village of Ya’bad, near the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank, around 4:00 in the morning on Tuesday.

Many villagers were awake at the time, to eat their pre-dawn meal and prepare for the day of fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. So the soldiers, who often engage in pre-dawn raids but usually do so while residents are sleeping, instead were met by angry youth who demanded that they leave their town.

The Israeli military reported that the Golani Brigade was invading the village in order to abduct two Palestinians that they suspected of ‘terrorism’, and another two who were suspected of having thrown stones at soldiers during previous invasions.

The person who dropped the stone on the soldier has not been identified, but Israeli troops have issued a complete lockdown order on the village and are searching house-by-house, interrogating the residents and preventing them from leaving their homes.

In response to the killing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “Israel’s long arm will reach the terrorist and hold him accountable.”

A massive Israeli military force reportedly invaded the village following the killing, and have abducted an unknown number of residents, mainly young men, to take them to interrogation centers.

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