Palestinian worker killed by Israeli gunfire in occupied West Bank

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian worker Sunday in the town of al-Ram in the central West Bank near a separation wall in the town of al-Ram, north of occupied East Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Health Ministry reported the death of Imad Haroun Hamdan Ishtayeh, 27, who succumbed to his injuries after being shot by Israeli forces.

In a statement, the Jerusalem Governorate said that Imad Ishtayeh, from the town of Salem, east of Nablus city (north), was shot in the thigh, causing damage to a main artery and severe bleeding, before his death was later announced.

In a previous statement, the governorate announced that the youth was shot by Israeli forces while attempting to cross the separation wall to reach his workplace in Israel.

Israel has been preventing thousands of Palestinian workers from the occupied West Bank from reaching their workplaces in Jerusalem and Israel since the start of the genocidal war in October 2023.

According to figures from the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions, more than 50 Palestinian workers have been killed and over 38,000 arrested between October 2023 and May 1 this year.

Since the start of the Gaza war, Israel has barred Palestinian workers from returning to their jobs, prompting some to climb the separation wall despite the risks.

East Jerusalem is surrounded by a wall made largely of concrete and barbed wire, most of it built on West Bank land. The wall stands more than 8 meters (26 feet) high and stretches roughly 202 kilometers (125 miles), according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem.

While Israel claims the barrier was built for security reasons, Palestinians and the UN say it is part of a plan to annex Palestinian land to Israel.

In 2004, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion declaring the wall illegal because it was constructed on occupied Palestinian territory.


*Writing by Rasa Evrensel in Istanbul