Al-Jazeera / July 10, 2023
Bilal Qadah, 33, was killed at a checkpoint in Deir Nidham as violence in the West Bank intensifies.
Israeli forces have shot a Palestinian man who the army says fired on soldiers in the occupied West Bank, and the Palestinian health ministry reports the suspect has been killed.
The Israeli military said soldiers in Deir Nidham, a town west of Ramallah, stopped a suspicious motorist on Monday and questioned him, after which he exited the vehicle, threw a grenade at the soldiers and fired at them.
“The soldiers responded with live fire and neutralized the assailant,” it said in a statement.
The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the death of Bilal Qadah, 33, near Deir Nidham without giving details.
The Palestinian news outlet WAFA said Qadah lived in the village of Shuqba near Ramallah and was married with three children.
The Ma’an news agency reported that Israeli forces prevented Red Crescent ambulances from reaching Qadah after he was shot and no assistance was given as he lay bleeding on the ground.
The leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine praised the victim in a statement, saying that the “heroic martyr” had delivered a message of defiance to the occupying army, local media reported.
Violence in the West Bank, where the Palestinians seek to establish a state, has worsened over the past 15 months with stepped-up Israeli raids and assaults by Jewish settlers on Palestinian villages.
Israel launched its biggest operation in years in the West Bank last week in the flashpoint city of Jenin, which covers less than half a square kilometre (0.2sq miles) but houses 23,600 people. At least 12 Palestinians were killed, at least three of them children, in a ground and aerial offensive carried out by hundreds of soldiers.
It was followed by more bloodshed last week, including a shooting by a Palestinian assailant who killed an Israeli soldier. An Israeli military raid killed two fighters while a third Palestinian was killed during a demonstration later the same day in the central West Bank.
Israel has increased its raids into Palestinian areas since the spring of 2022 in response to a spate of Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
The violence has intensified this year, driving up the death toll on both sides. More than 150 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of the year while at least 26 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
SOURCE: AL-JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
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Israeli forces kill Palestinian near West Bank Jewish settlement
MEE Staff
Middle East Eye / July 10, 2023
Bilal Ibrahim Qadah, a father of three, was killed after his car came under fire from behind.
Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Monday.
The man was identified as Bilal Ibrahim Qadah, 33, by the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Qadah, a father of three, was apparently in his car driving close to the Palestinian village of Deir Nidham and the Jewish settlement of Khalamish when he came under fire.
According to an eyewitness and footage from the scene, his car was hit from the back.
Qadah was pictured laying on the floor next to his car after being shot by Israeli soldiers.
Palestinian media said Israeli troops blocked paramedics and residents from reaching him after he was injured, leaving him to bleed to death.
The Israeli military said in a statement Qadah attempted to throw a handmade explosive device at troops and opened fire at them using an improvised submachine gun known as a Carlo.
It added that troops returned fire and killed him. No Israeli casualties were reported.
It also claimed a Carlo gun was found next to Qadah’s body.
An eyewitness living nearby disputed the Israeli account, doubting that there had been any attacks on Israeli troops in the area.
Israeli troops often shoot Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, citing alleged attempts to attack Israelis.
On Sunday, Israeli forces in Jerusalem shot and wounded a 60-year-old Palestinian woman, claiming she had pulled out a knife at a light rail station.
The Israeli army has been criticized by rights groups for its “shoot-to-kill” policy used against Palestinians even when victims posed no danger to soldiers.
Qadah’s killing comes amid heightened Israeli violence against Palestinians in the West Bank in recent weeks.
According to a Middle East Eye tally, 194 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire this year, including 33 children – at a rate of more than one fatality per day.
At least 158 people died in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while the remaining 36 were killed in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Palestinians have killed 25 Israelis in the same period, including six children.
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Israeli troops kill alleged Palestinian gunman as West Bank violence persists
AP / July 10, 2023
JERUSALEM – Israeli troops shot and killed an alleged Palestinian gunman during new unrest in the West Bank Monday, as a wave of violence in the occupied territory showed no signs of slowing.
The Israeli military said troops stopped a motorist in Deir Nidham, a town west of Ramallah, to question him. It said the man got out of his car, threw a grenade and fired shots toward soldiers, who then opened fire.
The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that a 33-year-old man had been killed, but gave no further details.
The death comes during a major spike in violence between Israel and the Palestinians. Last week, Israel concluded a fierce two-day offensive that used rare air power and hundreds of troops in what was designed as a crackdown against militants.
But the operation in the Jenin refugee camp was followed by more bloodshed, including a shooting by a Palestinian assailant that killed an Israeli soldier. A Israeli military raid killed two militants, while a third Palestinian was killed during a demonstration later in the day in the central West Bank.
On Monday, the Israeli military said it had discovered two tripods and the remnants of two improvised rockets next to Shaked, a Jewish settlement in the northern West Bank. Earlier, Palestinian militants had posted a video showing what appeared to be two rockets. The video did not show any launches, and it was not immediately known if the remnants discovered near the settlement were the same projectiles.
Israel has been conducting stepped-up raids into Palestinian areas since the spring of 2022 in response to a spate of Palestinian attacks. The violence has intensified this year, driving up the death toll on both sides. More than 150 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of the year, while at least 26 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
Israel says most of those killed have been militants. But stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in the confrontations also have been killed.
Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, areas the Palestinians want for their hoped-for independent state.
