3 Palestinians killed as tensions with Israel continue unabated

Three Palestinians were killed on Friday by Israel in clashes and car-ramming attack in the West Bank and Gaza, medical sources said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman for Gaza health ministry, said that 38-year-old Sami Madi was killed in the clashes that erupted behind the border fence east of al-Bureij Refugee camp in central Gaza Strip.

Al-Qedra said that 68 Palestinians were wounded by the Israeli fire, 58 of them were injured by live ammunition while 10 suffered suffocation.

Earlier on Friday, a 22-year-old Odai Irsheid was killed by live ammunition in clashes with the Israeli army forces in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement.

Irsheid's sister, Dania, was also killed late October in Hebron as the Israeli army said she wanted to stab an Israeli soldier.

Family refuted the Israeli claims saying that their daughter had crossed two Israeli checkpoints before she was killed, which means that she would have been caught if she acquired a knife.

Also on Friday, 57-year-old Issa Al-Hroub was killed north of Hebron as he tried to ram his car over Israeli soldiers there.

The health ministry said that the Palestinian death toll climbed to 121 since the outbreak of the current wave of violent tension between Israel and the Palestinians in the Palestinian territories early October.

In the meantime, 20 Israelis were killed in a series of stabbing and shooting attacks carried out by Palestinians in the West Bank, Israel and east Jerusalem. Endit