Key Developments (September 5-7)
A young Palestinian man was shot and killed in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem, which has become a target of increased Israeli raids and attacks on resistance fighters in recent months. The Palestinian health ministry identified the young man as Ayed Abu Harb, 21, adding that he was shot in the head. Abu Harb was killed during an Israeli raid on the camp at dawn on Tuesday, September 5. According to local reports, a large number of Israeli forces and armored tractors raided the camp, sparking armed confrontations with local resistance fighters. During the raid, the Israeli bulldozers plowed through the camp, destroying roads, infrastructure, homes, and businesses. The raid lasted around three hours, with one Palestinian — Abu Harb — killed, and another seriously injured. Tuesday’s raid on the Nur Shams refugee camp was the third such raid in recent months. Last July, Israeli forces conducted a similarly destructive raid, using bulldozers to dig up streets and destroy infrastructure. At the time, it was one of the first such raids since similar tactics were used in a massive incursion on the Jenin refugee camp a few weeks prior. Nur Shams has become the target of more frequent Israeli raids in recent months, following the formation of the Tulkarem Brigade, a local militia of armed fighters in the camp and surrounding areas. The brigade has mimicked others in the nearby Tulkarem refugee camp, and the resistance groups in Jenin and Nablus, where young Palestinians affiliated with various political factions are banding together to carry out offensive and defensive resistance activities against Israeli forces. The Israeli army said in a statement that it raided the camp to destroy a “large cache of explosive devices” in a building being used by “headquarters for wanted Palestinian gunmen.”
A Palestinian teenager was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the Jericho district of the West Bank after carrying out an alleged shooting operation. On Tuesday, September 5, 16-year-old Muhammad Zbeidat was killed by Israeli forces during a shootout near the Zbeidat village in Jericho in the southern Jordan Valley. According to a report from Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP), the teenager allegedly fired shots at a restaurant in an illegal Israeli settlement before fleeing to the nearby Palestinian village of Zbeidat to hide in a grove of palm trees. During the shootout, Muhammad reportedly hit one Israeli soldier, lightly wounding them. DCIP added that after a 10-minute shootout, Muhammad was shot, and left on the ground bleeding out for about four hours without medical attention. Israeli forces confiscated Muhammad’s body and have yet to return him to his family for burial, a policy and tactic used by Israel to collectively punish the families and communities of Palestinians accused of carrying out attacks. “Israeli forces routinely carry out extrajudicial killings of Palestinians, including children. Children suspected of committing criminal acts should be apprehended in accordance with international law and afforded due process of law, DCIP’s Ayed Abu Eqtaish said in a statement.
Palestinian Authority Security Forces reportedly fired on a car of resistance fighters outside the Nur Shams refugee camp on September 5, the same day Israeli forces raided the camp and killed a fighter. The incident took place on Tuesday night near the entrance to the camp. According to local reports, PA forces opened fire on a vehicle carrying fighters affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement in an alleged attempt to arrest the fighters. No injuries or arrests were reported. The incident came one week after PA security forces raided the same area and killed a Palestinian young man, 25-year-old Abdul Qader Zadeh, during confrontations with local resistance fighters. The PA claimed its raid was to “free up roads” leading to the Tulkarem refugee camps upon alleged “complaints” from residents that the “obstacles endangered passersby and a school,” Reuters reported. The roadblocks in question were set up by resistance fighters to impede the entry of Israeli forces into the camp in the event of raids, like the one that took place early on Tuesday morning. It is a common tactic used by resistance groups across the West Bank, and in particular in areas like Jenin and Nablus, where Israeli raids are frequent. The PA has increased its efforts to root out and target Palestinian resistance fighters in the wake of joint security meetings with Israeli officials. In recent months, dozens of Palestinian resistance fighters have been arrested by the PA.
Israeli forces raided the Jenin refugee camp for the second time in days, and arrested a Palestinian resistance fighter affiliated with the Fatah movement. The raid took place on Wednesday morning, September 6. Israeli undercover forces raided a building in the camp and arrested Muhammad Naghnaghiya, sparking confrontations with local resistance groups. Israeli army jeeps and uniformed soldiers, accompanied by drones in the sky, quickly arrived as reinforcements. Naghnaghiya, a prominent leader within the ranks of the Fatah-affiliated armed resistance in Jenin, is accused by Israel of allegedly “aiding in executing a series of shooting attacks in the West Bank in recent months.” Notably, Naghnaghiya was detained by PA security forces last April.
A Palestinian teenager from Jerusalem carried out an attempted stabbing attack near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City of occupied Jerusalem. The incident took place on Wednesday, September 6, when a 17-year-old from the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood of East Jerusalem attacked an Israeli settler with a cleaver. According to Israeli media, one Israeli man was seriously wounded, and a tourist was lightly injured. The teenager was arrested by Israeli forces on the scene. Israeli police also reportedly injured a friend of the teen, who they claim allegedly knew of his friend’s intentions to carry out the attack. An Israeli district court extended the detention of the teenager for seven days until September 13.
Important Figures
- 233 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in 2023, according to Al Jazeera
- Israeli forces have carried out more than 2,300 search and arrest raids in the West Bank this year
