Israeli settler kills Palestinian man in West Bank

Health officials identified the victim as 21-year-old Abdul-Karim Badie Sheikh, a resident of Sanniriya town, noting that he was fatally shot outside the illegal Karnei Shomron settlement on Friday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Local sources said that Israeli soldiers later barged their way into Sanniriya town and ransacked several houses, including the family house of Abdul-Karim.

The Israeli military alleged in a statement that the Palestinian man was shot dead by an Israeli settler after he broke into a farm and tried to carry out an attack.

It further claimed that he was spotted entering the Havat Dorot Illit in the northern West Bank, armed with knives and improvised explosive devices.

The suspect allegedly hurled two IEDs, one of which exploded, before the owner of the farm shot him dead.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and al-Quds.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The United Nations Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.

The development comes hours after Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in a raid in Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, less than 48 hours after six others were killed in another raid on the city.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the three men shot dead on Thursday morning were identified as Ahmad Fashafsheh, 22, Sufian Fakhouri, 26, and Nayef Malaysheh, 25.

The three Palestinian men were shot dead inside a car in the village of Jaba, south of Jenin, in what has been described by Palestinians as an “execution.”

Over the past months, Israel has ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested.

Most of the raids have focused on Nablus and Jenin, where Israeli forces have been trying to stifle a growing Palestinian resistance in the occupied cities.

Local and international rights groups have condemned Israel’s excessive use of force and “shoot-to-kill policy” against Palestinians.