A young Palestinian man has died of wounds sustained during an Israeli military raid in the central West Bank, as the occupation forces and illegal settlers step up their attacks against Palestinian civilians, their properties, lands, and sacred sites across the occupied territory.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA, citing the Ministry of Health, reported that the youth was killed by Israeli forces’ gunfire in the town of Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah, on Sunday evening.
Head of the town council, Fathi Hamdan, identified the victim as 20-year-old Bara’ Khairy Ali Maali, stating that he lost his life as settlers and Israeli occupation forces attacked the area.
Earlier, armed settlers attacked residents’ homes on the outskirts of Deir Jarir, while Israeli army forces raided the area to provide protection for the assailants.
The occupation soldiers and settlers opened fire at residents who attempted to confront the attack, directly striking Maali in the chest with live ammunition.
He was initially taken to the emergency center in Silwad and then transferred to the Palestine Medical Complex, where he succumbed to his critical wounds shortly afterward.
Additionally, a Palestinian man was shot and injured by Israeli occupation forces in the town of al-Ram, northeast of occupied al-Quds.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that the man suffered a live bullet injury to the thigh in the al-Dahiya area of the town after he crossed the controversial separation wall. He was subsequently transferred to the hospital for treatment.
Israeli occupation forces also stormed the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, on Sunday evening, deployed in various neighborhoods, and forced shop owners to close their businesses.
In another development, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians’ vehicles near the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah.
Local sources said a group of settlers pelted citizens’ vehicles with stones on a road northwest of Beitunia, causing material damage to one vehicle.
Moreover, a group of settlers uprooted young olive trees near the village of Asira al-Qibliya, south of Nablus, on Sunday morning.
The reports come as Palestinians across the West Bank have faced a wave of intensified Israeli military and settler violence in the shadow of Israel’s Gaza war, which has killed more than 69,000 people in the coastal territory since October 2023.
Rights groups have been warning for months that Palestinians in the West Bank faced a heightened risk of ethnic cleansing amid the violence.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel's prolonged occupation of historic Palestine was illegal.
The ICJ called for the removal of all current settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds.
The court's advisory opinion, although it lacks legal binding force, possesses substantial political influence as it signifies the first occasion that the ICJ has articulated a viewpoint regarding the legality of the 57-year occupation.
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