SEBASTIA, WEST BANK – On Saturday, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, adding to the surge of violence gripping the region. The incident occurred near Sebastia, close to the city of Nablus, in circumstances that are disputed by both sides.
According to the Israeli army, two Palestinian men attempted to drive a car into soldiers at midnight. The soldiers responded by opening fire, killing one of the men and injuring the other. The young man killed was identified as 18-year-old Fawzi Makhalfeh by the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The family of the victims contested the army’s account, stating that the two were ambushed while driving, and their car was hit with a barrage of bullets.
Sebastia’s mayor, Mohammad Azem, described a scene of devastation, with the car riddled with over fifty bullet holes. The funeral ceremony held in Sebastia saw hundreds of mourners paying their respects to the young man. Makhalfeh’s father expressed his grief, sharing that his son had recently passed his high school exams and had aspirations of getting married soon.
The incident followed the killing of another 17-year-old Palestinian by Israeli fire elsewhere in the West Bank. The ongoing surge of violence between Israelis and Palestinians has led to over 150 Palestinian fatalities since the start of 2023 in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, as reported by The Associated Press.
The escalating violence, characterized by near-nightly raids by Israel into Palestinian areas, has exacerbated tensions between the two sides. While Israel claims most of those killed have been militants, there have been casualties among stone-throwing protesters and civilians not directly involved in confrontations.
The West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, has been a longstanding point of contention between Israelis and Palestinians. The territories are sought by Palestinians for their envisaged independent state.