SAFA — The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said Tuesday that Israeli occupation forces are turning arrest operations in the occupied West Bank into “sites of extrajudicial executions,” following the killing of 54-year-old Ziad Mohammed Jaber during a raid on his home in al-Bireh.

Jaber was shot twice by Israeli forces during the raid on his home in the Umm al-Sharayet area, according to the PPS. His nephew and another relative were also arrested.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its crews treated Jaber for live-fire wounds to the abdomen and thigh. He was initially reported in critical condition before the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced his death.

The PPS said Israeli forces arrested at least 30 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, warning that Jaber’s killing comes amid an escalation in lethal force during arrest operations and military raids.

The organization pointed to the killing of Fathi Khazem inside his home in Jenin less than a month earlier during an Israeli operation to arrest him, describing the incident as another example of a growing pattern of extrajudicial executions during arrest raids.

According to the PPS, documented cases indicate that Israeli forces have killed Palestinians during or after arrest operations, with signs of restraints reportedly found on the bodies of some of those killed.

The PPS also accused Israeli authorities of seeking to “legitimize killing” through legislation, pointing to the death-penalty law passed by the Israeli Knesset in March.

The legislation makes the death penalty the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted by Israeli military courts of intentionally killing Israelis in qualifying attacks, while allowing life imprisonment in exceptional circumstances.

The PPS called on the United Nations and international human rights bodies to fulfil their responsibilities and hold Israeli officials accountable for unlawful killings and extrajudicial executions.

Israeli forces have intensified raids, arrests and military operations across the occupied West Bank since October 2023, alongside escalating settler attacks, home demolitions, land seizures and the forced displacement of Palestinian communities.