In a troubling escalation of violence in the West Bank, two Palestinians, one aged 17, were killed in the space of 24 hours, forcing renewed scrutiny on the intensifying genocidal war waged against the Palestinian civilian population. The first victim, Ahmad Rubhi al-Atrash from Hebron, was shot in the head by a settler at the entrance to Ras al-Joura. Witnesses say the shooter fired deliberately and that Israeli forces prevented medical teams from reaching him; his body was later removed after his family identified him.
In a second incident, 17-year-old Jamil Atef Hanani was critically wounded during an Israeli military raid in Beit Furik, east of Nablus. He succumbed to his injuries at Rafidia Governmental Hospital after refusing access to casualty units further delayed the emergency response. The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that its teams were denied access to intervene in both cases.
These deaths raise the tally for Palestinian fatalities in the occupied territory to 230 this year, including 42 children and six women. Monitoring groups highlight that both settler violence and military operations across the West Bank are spiralling, creating an environment of dread for local communities.
Aid agencies and rights groups warn that these patterns are no longer sporadic: civilians increasingly find themselves targeted, denied protection and severed from vital assistance. With habitual blocking of emergency services, land access and humanitarian oversight, many fear the encroaching reality of systematic displacement under the cover of warfare.