Hawzah News Agency (Occupied Territories) -“We took to the streets to protest and make the voice of the Palestinian people heard. We will not accept being deported from our homes, marginalized and killed,” said Kholoud Abu Ahmed, a resident of Haifa in northern Israel.

She added that Palestinians will continue to protest and stand against the demolition of their homes as well as the Israeli regime’s terrorism.

Israeli authorities, Abu Ahmed said, are seeking to force the local residents of Umm al-Hayran village out of their homes, and construct an illegal settlement there instead.

Scores of Israeli military forces stormed Umm al-Hayran on Wednesday morning to demolish a number of Palestinian houses under construction.

The raid prompted fierce scuffles with villagers, with Israeli troops firing tear gas canisters, stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. A villager, identified as Yacoub Abu al-Qiyan, was fatally shot, and four others sustained gunshot wounds.

Ayman Odeh, an Arab member of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) that currently serves as the head of the Arab-dominated political alliance Joint List, was shot in the head and injured during the melee.

Israeli officials claimed Qiyan was shot dead as he drove his car at Israeli forces in Umm al-Hayran. They said an Israeli officer, identified as Erez Levi, was killed in the purported car-ramming assault.

Local residents, however, maintain that Qiyan was simply driving to the scene to talk to Israeli authorities in an attempt to stop the demolitions.

The Arab Higher Monitoring Committee (AHMC), which is an independent political organization coordinating political action among various Palestinian groups in Israel, announced the launch of a general strike across Palestinian villages and cities in Israel on Thursday.

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