Nablus: They killed him in broad day light

Israeli army forces shot dead a Palestinian man and injured three others near two military checkpoints in the West Bank city of Nablus on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry confirmed that Ahmad Shehadeh, 57, from the town of Urif in Nablus, was killed by Israeli gunfire near the al-Murabba’a checkpoint. The Israeli army claimed that Shehadeh threw a “suspicious object” toward its forces, prompting them to open fire and kill him instantly.

Video documents moment Israeli Occupation Forces execute Ahmad Shehadeh at Al-Moraba’a checkpoint south of Nablus, occupied West Bank.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that three Palestinians were assaulted and injured by Israeli forces at the Deir Sharaf checkpoint, west of Nablus. Palestinians are frequently subjected to abuse, beatings, and searches while passing through Israeli military checkpoints in the occupied West Bank.

Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, violence has escalated across the West Bank, with intensified settlement expansion, home demolitions, and forced displacement. At least 1,018 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the territory by Israeli forces and settlers since then, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The UN on Friday sounded the alarm over the worsening situation, citing a sharp increase in Palestinian casualties and demolitions in the West Bank.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, referencing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that “since January, more than 2,780 Palestinians have been injured by Israeli forces or settlers — a 39% increase compared to last year.” Nearly 500 of those injuries were caused by settlers, double the figure from the same period in 2024.

Dujarric added that OCHA has documented the demolition of over 1,150 Palestinian structures this year for lacking Israeli-issued permits, describing such permits as “almost impossible for any Palestinian to obtain.” He noted that this represented a 44% rise over the same period last year.

Source: First published in The Palestine Chronicle