Israeli forces shoot dead Palestinian youth in Galilee

A young Palestinian citizen of Israel died on Saturday morning after being shot in the chest by Israeli police during an arrest raid in a village north of Nazareth.

According to locals in the Galilee-region town of Kafr Kana in northern Israel, Khair al-Din Rouf Hamdan, 22, was shot dead after police attempted to arrest his cousin.

Israeli police claimed in a statement that the Hamdan had been wielding a knife at the time of the incident and had attempted to stab an officer before being shot dead.

Following his death, locals in the village announced a general strike in protest against the killing.

Video emerged following the killing that appeared to show Hamdan hitting a police car with a small object.

The video footage — which could not be independently verified — subsequently shows a police officer exiting the car and shooting Hamdan at close range, before dragging him into the car.

Although the majority of Palestinians were expelled from their homes inside Israel during the 1948 conflict that led to the creation of the State of Israel, some Palestinians managed to remain in their villages and their descendants today make up around 20 percent of Israel’s population.

Palestinians in Israel complain of routine discrimination, particularly in housing, land access and employment, and anger has risen in recent months over Israel’s assault on Gaza that left nearly 2,200 dead.

More than 700 Palestinians in Israel were arrested in protests across the country against the attack over summer.

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