A Palestinian man was killed on Sunday morning after succumbing to critical injuries sustained from Israeli occupation gunfire during a raid on the town of Dura, south of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the death of Mohammad Jihad Masalmeh, 25, who had been critically wounded on Saturday evening when Israeli occupation forces stormed the town. At the time, the Ministry reported that a young man had been shot with live ammunition during the incursion.
According to eyewitnesses, occupation forces entered the centre of the town and the vicinity of the Grand Mosque while worshippers were performing Taraweeh prayers, firing live ammunition and tear gas canisters at Palestinian residents. The assault resulted in multiple cases of suffocation.
Masalmeh’s death comes amid a marked escalation in killings, injuries, and arrests carried out by Israeli occupation forces across cities and towns in the West Bank since the outbreak of the war on the Gaza Strip on 8 October 2023. The escalation has included repeated night raids, the use of live ammunition during incursions, home and property demolitions, mass arrests, and the expansion of settlement activity.
According to Palestinian data, these actions have resulted in the killing of at least 1,119 Palestinians, the injury of approximately 11,700 others, and the arrest of nearly 22,000 Palestinians during the same period.
Under international humanitarian law, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is recognised as occupied territory and is subject to the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which obliges the occupying power to protect the civilian population and ensure their safety and security.
International law further prohibits the transfer of the occupying power’s civilian population into occupied territory, rendering settlement activity a violation of this prohibition. It also bans collective punishment and the demolition of homes as retaliatory measures, and restricts permanent alterations to occupied territory except where justified by imperative and temporary military necessity.
In the continued absence of effective accountability, calls are intensifying for the provision of international protection for civilians, the opening of independent and transparent investigations into incidents of killing, and the assurance that those responsible for grave violations are not granted impunity, in line with international obligations to safeguard the right to life and uphold human dignity.
