Israeli forces kill Palestinian man during ‘shooting attack’

Man identified as Palestinian police officer reportedly shot during attack on Israeli checkpoint in occupied West Bank.

Ramallah, occupied West Bank – Israeli forces have shot and killed a Palestinian man in the southern occupied West Bank.

He was identified as 40-year-old Hamdi Abu Dayyeh by the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Officials said he was killed on Tuesday by Israeli fire in Halhul, a town on the northern outskirts of the city of Hebron.

Palestinian media outlets reported that Abu Dayyeh was shot dead while carrying out a shooting attack against Israeli forces stationed at a checkpoint in the area. They said he was a police officer with the Palestinian Authority.

The Israeli army also said he opened fire at soldiers and shared an image of the sub-machine gun it said he had used.

No injuries were reported on the Israeli side.

Witnesses said the Israeli military prevented ambulances from approaching Abu Dayyeh as he lay on the ground.

Minutes before the incident, Israeli authorities received reports of a shooting on a bus of settlers in the Hebron area. No injuries were reported.

The Israeli army said the man killed was “suspected of carrying out two shooting attacks in the last 48 hours”.

Abu Dayyeh is the 15th Palestinian to be killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since the start of 2023. The dead include four minors.

The Israeli army regularly carries out raids, arrests and killings of Palestinians in the West Bank, where they have lived under military occupation since 1967.

Over the past year, Israel has stepped up its operations, leading to near-daily raids and killings in Palestinian villages, cities and refugee camps. The Israeli government says the operations are aimed at crushing armed resistance groups located primarily in the northern West Bank.

Israeli forces have killed civilians confronting them during raids and uninvolved bystanders as well as Palestinian fighters in targeted assassinations and during exchanges of gunfire. The majority of those killed, however, have been civilians.

The United Nations said 2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2006 with Israeli forces killing 171 Palestinians, including more than 30 children and teenagers.

A total of 224 Palestinians were killed in 2022, including 49 people during a three-day Israeli assault on the besieged Gaza Strip. At least 17 of those killed in the Gaza assault were children.

At least 9,000 Palestinians were injured during the same period.