At least one Palestinian has lost his life this Monday after being hit by gunfire from Israeli security forces following an alleged deliberate attempt to run over in the vicinity of the West Bank city of Hebron, according to Palestinian authorities.
The Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs has reported in a statement disseminated on social media that one Palestinian has died and two others have been injured, one of them critically, due to gunfire from Israeli forces near Bani Naim. So far, the identities of the victims have not been made public.
For its part, the Israeli Army has attributed the incident to "a car theft attempt" in the area and explained that troops deployed in the area "identified a vehicle that was driving suspiciously with three suspects inside." "The driver accelerated and crashed into the forces' vehicle," it added.
The military statement details that the soldiers responded by opening fire on the car, hitting its occupants. "The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have launched search operations and blockades in the nearby towns," it stated, emphasizing that the incident did not leave any injuries among its troops.
Abdulrahman Shadid, leader of the political wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), has asserted that the deceased was "executed" by Israeli soldiers in Bani Naim, describing the event as "an extension of the increase in the crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people."
"The terrorism of the occupation will not succeed in breaking the will of our people or pushing them to displacement and renouncing their rights and their land," he stated, before urging Palestinians in the West Bank to "increase their mobilization" and "confront the crimes of the occupation and its settlers," according to a statement released by the Islamist group.
"Neutralized" an armed Palestinian in a settlement
In a separate incident, the Israeli Army has indicated in a brief note that "a terrorist armed with a knife" was "neutralized" by "an Israeli civilian" during an episode in which a vehicle was set on fire in a West Bank settlement.
The security forces have also initiated an operation to try to detain a second suspect allegedly involved in these events, without further details known for now. It has not been clarified whether the first Palestinian is dead or injured.
The Palestinian authorities have also reported the death of a 45-year-old man after the vehicle in which he was being transported on Sunday to a hospital was held up at an Israeli Army checkpoint in Enab, east of the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
The Palestinian Red Crescent has explained that its teams received a notice about a patient in very serious condition at the checkpoint and added that the medical staff attempted to revive him through cardiopulmonary resuscitation after suffering a heart attack, although he ultimately died at the scene, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
The man has been identified as Raafat Jairi abú Jalil, captain of the Palestinian Military Training Authority. The body was taken to a hospital in Tulkarem, while the Israeli authorities have not yet provided a version of what happened.
These episodes occur in a context of increased attacks by settlers and operations by the Israeli Army in the West Bank following the attacks of October 7, 2023. However, in the months prior to that year, the highest number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since the Second Intifada, recorded two decades ago, had already been counted.