West Bank: Israeli forces kill a Palestinian during a raid on the first day of Ramadan
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Palestinian officials said that Israeli forces killed a Palestinian during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, March 23, 2023, amid efforts to curb the escalation of violence.
A statement from the Israeli Border Police stated that its unit carried out a raid early Thursday morning to arrest a Palestinian suspected of involvement in several shooting attacks.
Border police said the forces surrounded the house he was in and shot him after he pointed a weapon at them. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that Amir Imad Abu Khadija (25 years old) was shot in the head in the city of Tulkarm, “which led to a complete laceration of the skull and exit of the brain,” and he was also shot “in the lower extremities.”
A new group formed to confront the Israeli occupation, called the “Tulkarem Brigade,” announced that Abu Khadija was one of its founders, and described the killing as an “assassination.”
Today is the first day of Ramadan in the Palestinian territories. During the previous years, the month of Ramadan witnessed from time to time clashes between the Israeli police and the Palestinians, especially around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The month of Ramadan this year coincides with Easter for the Jews and Easter for the Christians.
On Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian officials pledged to de-escalate, at a meeting attended by US, Egyptian and Jordanian delegations in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The Israeli-occupied West Bank has witnessed an escalation in confrontations in the past months, in light of almost daily Israeli military raids and escalating violence by Jewish settlers, amid a series of attacks carried out by Palestinians.
Over the past year, Israeli forces have killed more than 250 Palestinians in the West Bank, including militants and civilians. More than 40 Israelis and three Ukrainians were killed in attacks carried out by Palestinians in the same period.