Palestinian man shot dead at West Bank barrier
SAMY MAGDY |
A Palestinian man has been shot and killed by Israeli forces at a concrete barrier separating the occupied West Bank from Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified him as 26-year-old Imad Haroun Ishtayeh from the village of Salem, east of Nablus.
It said Israeli forces shot him in a thigh in al-Ram town, and he was pronounced dead at the Palestinian Medical Complex in Ramallah on Sunday.
Israeli police said he tried to unlawfully enter Israel by crossing the barrier.
Footage circulating online showed people carrying his body and climbing down a ladder that had been placed against the wire-topped barrier, while traffic continued to roll by and a horn blared.
Ishtayeh was attempting to cross from the West Bank to Israel. Many people have been shot trying to cross the barrier, including a 44-year-old father who was killed in May.
Ishtayeh previously ran a poultry slaughterhouse in his home village of Salem, financially supporting his ill father. But business deteriorated as an economic crisis hit the West Bank and he decided to cross into Israel in search of a job, a relative, Nasser Ishtayeh, told The Associated Press.
On his first attempt on Saturday, Israeli security was tight, the relative said. After spending the night with other Palestinians hoping to cross into Israel, Haroun Ishtayeh tried again on Sunday morning and was shot.
“He was directly shot with live bullets and died at the hospital,” Nasser Ishtayeh said.
An increasing number of Palestinians from the West Bank have tried to enter Israel illegally to work in recent years.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians had held Israeli work permits, but access was sharply restricted after the attack by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, sparked the war in Gaza.
Since then, unemployment in the West Bank has surged amid an economic slowdown.
Around 50 workers have been killed by Israeli fire, with over 38,000 arrested though many were later released, the Palestinian official WAFA news agency reported on Sunday, citing the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike has killed at least two Palestinians and wounded 12 at a Gaza cafe that was packed with people celebrating public holidays, health officials say.
There was no immediate Israeli comment.
An October ceasefire, brokered by US President Donald Trump, has failed to halt Israeli attacks in Gaza.
Israel and Hamas are deadlocked in indirect talks over implementing the second phase of the deal, which includes the group’s disarmament and Israeli army withdrawals.
The ceasefire left Israel in control of more than half of Gaza, with Hamas controlling a sliver of coastal territory.
The cafe struck on Sunday was on the emergency seaport in Gaza, a floating dock off the coast that was meant to be temporary.
Some 900 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the truce came into effect, according to figures from Gaza health officials that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period, the country’s military said.
with Reuters
AP