Israeli forces injured three brothers in West Bank, and one Israeli soldier stabbed

Israeli forces Tuesday opened fire at three Palestinian brothers in the village of Ramon near Ramallah, injuring them. Two of the brothers was reported in a critical condition and the other one suffered moderate injuries, medics said.

Eyewitnesses said one of the brothers stepped out of his house in Rammun village early Tuesday, unaware that Israeli forces were in the village. The soldiers immediately opened fire on the man, injuring him, they said.

Another brother was injured when he opened the door to check on the man, and the third brother was injured when he arrived at the scene.

WAFA news said that the occupied forces did not permit a Palestinian ambulance to evacuate the men, and they were taken to an Israeli Medical Center in Jerusalem.

According to Haaretz news, one of the brothers was shot in his neck and the other in the stomach. They are currently being treated at Hadassah.

Meanwhile, an Israeli soldier was stabbed overnight during routine activity in a West Bank town east of Ramallah.

“Soldiers were carrying out a routine operation near Ramallah, when one of them was attacked and wounded by a Palestinian wielding a knife,” an Israeli army spokeswoman said.

“His comrades responded by opening fire, wounding three Palestinians,” she adding, saying all of them had been taken to hospitals in Israel.

“The circumstances of the whole incident are being investigated.”

Palestinian witnesses refuted Israeli claims that one of the brothers stabbed a soldier, stressing that the brothers used only sticks to attack who they believed were thieves.

Elsewhere, an Israeli settler shot an 18-year-old Palestinian in Hebron's Old City on Tuesday morning, leaving him moderately injured. Medics at Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron said Muhammad Hisham Abu Aker was shot in his right leg and is undergoing surgery.

Around 800 Jewish settlers live in Hebron's Old City, among 30,000 Palestinians in the parts of the ancient city that are under Israeli control.

At the same time, Israeli forces Tuesday arrested six Palestinians from various areas of the West Bank, according to local and security sources.

Israeli army as well as Israeli settlers violence are on the rise. In 2011, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that settler attacks had increased by 50 percent over the previous year.