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Two Palestinian youths killed in clashes on the fringes of Jerusalem

Israeli forces fatally shot two Palestinian teenagers on the outskirts of Jerusalem, the Palestinian Authority said Friday, while the Israeli police said they had opened fire on people posing a threat.”The young man Amr Khaled Ahmed Al-Marbou (18) and the boy Sami Ibrahim Sami Mashayekh (16) were martyred by occupation forces gunfire in the town of Kufr Aqab,” the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement.Israeli police told AFP that during a deployment in Kufr Aqab overnight, it fired “at four individuals who posed an immediate threat to the personnel” during clashes involving dozens of individuals who threw rocks and fireworks.The Palestinian Red Crescent said it transported two people from Kufr Aqab to a hospital during the night, both with gunshot wounds.Several hundred people, mostly young men, took part in the funeral processions for Marbou and Mashayekh on Friday, clapping and chanting.The deceased were draped in Palestinian flags with their heads covered with the traditional black and white Palestinian keffiyeh. Relatives recited prayers around the bodies.Oday al-Shurfa, a friend of Marbou, told AFP he witnessed the incident, which occurred during clashes between Israeli forces and local Palestinians.”He was just standing there, not holding or throwing stones — just like the others,” he said.Shurfa said Marbou was hit “in the chest, in the heart. He collapsed and was martyred on the spot,” he said.A relative of Marbou, who declined to give her name, told AFP: “He was with four others; one of them was also killed, another is in critical condition,” and another suffered a serious hand injury.”What kind of brutality is this?” she said.The Palestinian Authority later said that Israeli forces killed a man it named as Younis Walid Mohammed Ashtiyeh, 24, in the town of Tal, southwest of Nablus.Palestinian media reported that he was a police officer.Later on Friday, Israeli border police said they had “eliminated the terrorist who fired at and injured a reserve combat soldier during operational activity yesterday (Thursday)”.”The terrorist was an operative in the Palestinian Police,” a joint statement from the border police, the military and the Shin Bet internal security agency said, adding that others were arrested.An AFP photographer in the area on Friday saw dozens of burned0out cars in Huwara, as well as a home that was set on fire in the village of Ammuriya.Residents said the fires in both areas had been started by settlers.Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.Kufr Aqab is part of east Jerusalem, an area of the West Bank annexed by Israel. Although part of the Jerusalem municipality, Kufr Aqab is separated from it by the barrier built by Israel.The town does not receive proper services from the Jerusalem municipality due to the barrier, nor does it receive them from the adjacent Palestinian towns of Ramallah and Al-Bireh.Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.

Indian warplane crashes at Dubai Airshow, killing pilot

An Indian fighter jet crashed during a flying display at the Dubai Airshow on Friday, killing the pilot in front of hundreds of shocked onlookers.The Indian-made Tejas warplane was executing a manoeuvre when it plunged to the ground and erupted in a fireball. The pilot was unable to eject.The crash happened in full view of a packed grandstand watching the aerobatics display on the last day of the Middle East’s biggest air show.Dubai’s government-run media office confirmed the “tragic death of the pilot” and the Indian Air Force (IAF) announced an inquiry.”IAF deeply regrets the loss of life and stands firmly with the bereaved family in this time of grief,” it said in a statement.The plane went down about a mile (1.6 kilometres) from the show site, which was full of planes, helicopters and other hardware on static display.The United Arab Emirates’ president and prime minister, aviation industry leaders and military top brass were among thousands who attended the show this week.Videos on social media showed the aircraft plunging to the ground and bursting into flames on impact. Smoke billowed from the crash site as emergency vehicles sped towards it.”The pilot was flying at a low altitude, performing risky manoeuvres,” Iraqi eyewitness Hassan Loqman told AFP.”Then he seemed he was trying to avoid the accident, he began to steer the plane upwards, but he couldn’t do so in time.”The incident happened near the start of the daily flying display, which features barrel rolls, loops and other stunts. The demonstration later resumed.It is the second crash involving the single-seat Tejas in less than two years after a non-fatal training accident in Rajasthan in March last year.In September, India signed a $7 billion order for 97 upgraded Tejas Mk1A fighter jets to replace its Russian MiG-21 fleet after decades of use.The Tejas, designed and built in India, was first commissioned into the air force in 2016.Friday’s crash is believed to be the first in the history of the Dubai Airshow, which dates back to 1986. Dubai’s state-owned Emirates and flydubai airlines signed several major agreements at the airshow, including Emirates’ order for 65 Boeing jets valued at $38 billion.