Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on Monday, as confirmed by both the Palestinian health ministry and the Israeli military. In the first incident, soldiers near the southern West Bank town of Dura encountered a man armed with a knife who ran towards them. The military stated that after identifying the individual, troops opened fire, killing him.
The Palestinian health ministry, based in Ramallah, identified the man as 22-year-old Ramzi al-Awawdeh, who was shot at dawn in the town of Khursa, close to Dura. Later that same morning, another incident occurred near the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem. Israeli forces shot and “neutralised” a man who accelerated his vehicle towards soldiers stationed at the Anab checkpoint.
The Palestinian health ministry named the second victim as 31-year-old Abdulrahman Abu al-Rub. The term “neutralised” is often used by the Israeli military to indicate that the individual was killed. These incidents come amid a sharp increase in violence across the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
Notably, the surge in violence has been linked to the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by the Islamist group Hamas, which sparked the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Since the onset of the Gaza war, at least 1,056 Palestinians—including militants and civilians—have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the West Bank, figures compiled by the Palestinian health ministry.
Meanwhile, Israeli official data reports that at least 46 Israelis, comprising both civilians and soldiers, have lost their lives in the West Bank due to Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations. The escalating violence underscores the continuing volatility and deep-rooted tensions in the region.
