Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian near West Bank Checkpoint

They confirmed that Israeli forces shot a Palestinian driving a white Hyundai near the checkpoint at point-blank range, first injuring him before he was declared dead, WAFA news agency reported.

The Palestinian was identified as 29-year-old Bilal Adnan Rawajbeh from Iraq Tayeh village, east of Nablus. He served as a legal adviser holding the rank of a captain in the Preventive Security Forces, one of the Palestinian Authority’s security services.

Rawajbeh was left to bleed to death by the Israeli soldiers who closed the checkpoint in both directions and prevented Palestinian medics from approaching the scene.

The Israeli military said in a brief statement that they “thwarted” what they described as an attempted shooting attack” by “neutralizing the assailant”, and that no soldier was hurt.

There was no official Palestinian information on the incident, and circumstances surrounding it remain unclear and largely based on the Israeli version of events.

Many Palestinians have been injured or killed in similar incidents under the pretext of alleged stabbing attempts.

Israeli has been criticized for its reflexive use of lethal force and “extrajudicial killings” when Palestinian alleged attackers no longer pose an immediate threat. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that circumstances surrounding such killings over the past months remain disputed.

Various international, Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations have slammed Israel’s policy of “extrajudicial killings” against Palestinians.