Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a 16-year-old boy, during separate raids in the Jenin governorate of the occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to Palestinian officials, with surveillance footage showing one of the victims being shot at close range.
As is very often the case, the Israelis claimed the boy had been throwing stones.
Rayyan Abdel Qader was fatally shot during an Israeli incursion into the town of Qabatiya, while 22-year-old Ahmad Zayoud was killed in Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin.
Witnesses reported that soldiers fired directly at Abdel Qader and prevented ambulances from reaching him, leaving him bleeding on the ground until he died, after which his body was withheld by Israeli forces.
Al Jazeera reported that video footage showed Abdel Qader walking toward what locals said was his home when he was shot, with journalists and rights advocates describing the killing as part of a broader pattern of extrajudicial executions.
Israeli forces were also accused of delaying access to Abdel Qader’s body for about 40 minutes, a practice frequently reported in recent West Bank raids. The Israeli military claimed the shootings occurred after the victims threw objects or explosives at soldiers, although no Israeli troops were injured and such claims have often been disputed by Palestinian sources.
The killings come amid escalating violence across the occupied territories, where more than 1,100 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, have been killed since October 2023, alongside mass arrests, abuse in detention, settlement expansion, and continued Israeli attacks in both the West Bank and Gaza.
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