Palestinian officer killed in refugee camp shootout

By Kaamil Ahmed

JERUSALEM (AA) – A member of the Palestinian security forces was killed during a shootout with gunmen in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus early Monday.

Nablus Governor Akram Rajoub confirmed through Facebook that officer Hassan Abu al-Haj was killed during a raid on Balata refugee camp, promising to “take justice from the killers and outlaws”.

He said al-Haj went through surgery after the raid but died from his injuries.

Over the past year, there have been several heavy clashes between gunmen in Balata and the Palestinian security forces, who have been accused of taking a heavy-handed approach in the camp.

Last August, two Palestinian policemen were killed in Nablus, prompting a heavy crackdown in the area that led to two Palestinians being killed by police in Nablus' Old City and a senior militia leader in Balata, Ahmad Halaweh, being beaten to death while in police custody.

Halaweh, a Nablus-area leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the military wing of the dominant Fatah faction, was accused of being responsible for the killing of the two police officers.