In the wake of more violent raids by soldiers and settlers and the Israeli government’s plan to seize more land, Israeli forces have shot and killed a Palestinian child in the occupied West Bank.
Amr Ali Qabha, 13, was shot with live ammunition in a Yabad street on Friday, according to local Palestinian sources, and ambulances were unable to arrive because of soldiers’ blocking of his path. He was denied medical care.
According to the Wafa news agency, Qabha’s father attempted to reach him but was severely beaten and detained by Israeli soldiers. The child was later declared dead at the hospital after an ambulance managed to transport him there.
Since Israel’s occupation of Gaza began on October 7, 2023, more than 1, 000 Palestinians have died in the occupied West Bank. At least 204 of those figures were children.
Last month, there were at least 129 Israeli settler attacks that left Palestinians dead or property damage, according to the UN humanitarian office (OCHA).
More than 2, 200 Israeli settler attacks were reported between the beginning of 2024 and the end of 2025, according to OCHA figures, resulting in more than 5, 200 Palestinian injuries.
Nearly 36, 000 Palestinians were forced to flee across the West Bank during that same time as Israeli military operations, settler violence, or home demolitions carried out by the Israeli government.
ongoing harassment and raids
Israeli soldiers continued their raids across the occupied territory on Friday, which included arrests, and aid settlers in their attacks on Palestinians.
Israeli forces were pelting Palestinians in the village of Raba, Jenin, as they were protesting the confiscation of their land and property.
Five Palestinians were taken into custody in the town of Dura, which is located south of Hebron, as a result of a raid that included the looting of several homes.
In Kafr Laqif, in the same district of Qalqiliya, six more were detained, and two more were detained in Sir, in the same district.
After being summoned by Israeli intelligence to the Gush Etzion settlement, a Palestinian man was detained in Bethlehem. One person was shot and wounded before his arrest in a raid on Nablus, which resulted in his arrest. In the refugee camp in Askar, another arrest was reported.
About 1, 000 people without water because of Israeli soldiers’ destruction of a main water pipeline in the village of Umm Safa near Ramallah.
Families living in a residential building were made to leave in Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem, to make way for the demolition of their homes. Following an order from the Israeli government, the Palestinian families were forced to demolish the buildings themselves because the municipality would fine them more if the building is destroyed.
In the village of al-Malih in the northeast of the occupied territory, armed Israeli settlers launched a violent attack earlier on Friday. According to Wafa, they vandalized tents and other property, killing at least 117 Palestinian sheep, and also snatched at least 117 sheep from the country.
Israel’s strategy for dividing the upcoming Palestinian state
Despite international criticism, Israeli authorities intend to illegally seize additional Palestinian land as well.
The United Kingdom objected to Israel’s announcement on Friday to renew plans for construction in the occupied West Bank’s E1 area, which would divide the Palestinian territory.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office said the UK is “sheeply opposed” to the announcement by Israel’s civil administration’s central planning bureau to reintroduce the E1 settlement plan, which has been stalled since 2021.
According to the statement, the plan would divide a future Palestinian state into two, and “mark a flagrant violation of international law” by constructing more than 3, 000 houses east of Jerusalem.
In a joint statement released on Friday, US Democratic Senators Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch, Jeff Merkley, and Chris Van Hollen condemned Israel’s long-awaited plan to annihilate and expel Palestinian communities in Masafer Yatta, in the South Hebron Hills.
Source: Aljazeera
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