At least two people have lost their lives when an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle carried out an attack in the besieged Gaza Strip as occupied Palestinian territories are simmering with tensions following the recent decision by US President Donald Trump to recognize Israeli-occupied Jerusalem al-Quds as the capital of the Tel Aviv regime.
Local and medical sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Israeli aircraft targeted a motorcycle as it was travelling along a road in Um al-Nasser village.
The sources added that the bodies of the victims have been transferred to Rumah Sakit Indonesia Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip city of Jabalia, located 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) north of Gaza City.
The two slain Palestinians were later identified as Hassan Ghazi Nasrallah and Mustafa Sultan.
They were reportedly members of the engineering unit of al-Quds Brigades, which is the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement.
4 Palestinians killed, over 1,000 injured amid Quds tensions
Meanwhile, Palestinian medical authorities say at least four protesters have lost their lives and more than 1,700 others sustained injuries in rallies staged in protest at Trump’s decision on Jerusalem al-Quds.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health, in a statement released on Tuesday, announced that four people were killed and 1,778 injured in angry anti-US demonstrations around the occupied Palestinian lands.
The statement added that 1,366 Palestinians were injured in the West Bank. A total of 33 people were struck with live bullets, while 323 others were hit with rubber-coated steel bullets.
A total of 998 Palestinians suffered from tear gas inhalation as well.
Elsewhere in the besieged Gaza Strip, the number of casualties stood at 382. A total of 85 Palestinian protesters were struck with live bullets, and 14 others with rubber bullets.
Another 235 Palestinians inhaled an excessive amount of tear gas. Four Gazans, including a six-month-old girl, suffered serious injuries during clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli military forces.
Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital and relocate the US embassy in the occupied lands from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds on December 6.
The dramatic shift in Washington’s Jerusalem al-Quds policy triggered demonstrations in the occupied Palestinian territories, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco and other Muslim countries.
On Sunday, violent clashes erupted outside the US embassy in the Lebanese capital city of Beirut during a protest against US president’s decision to officially recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital.
Demonstrators burnt tires as well as the US and Israeli flags as they pushed to break through a barbed wire erected by security forces around the embassy complex.
Security forces used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the angry protesters.
Jerusalem al-Quds remains at the core of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, with Palestinians hoping that the eastern part of the city would eventually serve as the capital of a future independent Palestinian state.
