Nablus district has paid a high price for international recognition of role of popular resistance.
Today, two 19-year old boys, Muhammad Faysal and Salah Muhammad Qawariq, were shot dead by Israeli military close to their village Awarta, south of Nablus.
The two were on their way to work on their fields, presumably carrying farming tools. Eyewitnesses from the houses overlooking the field the youth were crossing report that an Israeli occupation forces jeep approached the youth and stopped them. Additional military jeeps soon arrived at the spot.
The youth were held for around seven minutes before the soldiers shot both youth from close range. Mohammad and Salah both died instantly.
Later, a commander of the occupation forces approached the mayor of the village, Hassan Awwad, accusing one of the two youth of having tried to attack the soldiers. The mayor argues that knowing the two youth, given the circumstances and the fact that the two were already detained for some time before they were shot, the explanation of the IOF does not stand up in front of eyewitness testimonies, nor is it logical. He added that the inhabitants of Awarta have suffered for years from the assaults by settlers from Itamar settlement and by Israeli soldiers and thus have been avoiding clashes as much as possible.
These killings occurred less than 24 hours after Mohammad Qadus,16, and Useid Qadus, 19, were killed by Israeli gunfire. Israeli military had invaded the village of Iraq Burin on Saturday and shot Mohammad in the chest and Useid in the head with live ammunition.
The escalation in killings of Palestinian teenagers comes at a moment in which the Palestinian popular resistance is growing every week. Last Friday five villages in the Ramallah district mobilized in protest. Each week, between Friday and Sunday, four different locations in the Bethlehem district are actively protesting the Wall, the settlements and the Israeli occupation.
At the same time, Israeli repression of the popular resistance has been brought to the attention of both EU High Representative of Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton, and UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon.
The latest killings by the occupation forces are a clear response to the growing strength on the ground and at international level of the popular resistance movement against the Wall and the settlements. Israel wants to root out this movement by killing Palestinian children.