Fifteen days into 2023, thirteen Palestinians have been killed by Israel. The latest victim, Ahmad Kahala, was shot Sunday at point-blank range, and medics were blocked from saving his life.
Saturday, Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians, Ezzeddin Hamamra, 24, and Amjad Khaliliyya, 23; the same day, Yazan Ja’bari, 19, died from wounds inflicted by Israeli soldiers earlier this month.
Israel has one of the most powerful armies in the world.
reposted from IMEMC – the International Middle East Media Center, January 15, 2023
On Sunday, just one day after three Palestinians had died from Israeli violence, Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian man at the western entrance of Silwad town, east of Ramallah, in the central West Bank.
Eyewitnesses said the soldiers installed a sudden military roadblock at the entrance of the town before stopping and searching cars.
They added that the soldiers forced a driver, Ahmad Hasan Abdul-Jalil Kahala, 45, out of his car and started assaulting him after a verbal argument ensued.
The eyewitnesses stated that one of the soldiers assaulting the Palestinian shot him from point-blank range.
Palestinian medics rushed to the scene, but the soldiers stopped them, obstructed their efforts to provide him with life-saving first aid, and eventually allowed them to take him away.
The medics rushed Ahmad to Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, but he succumbed to his serious wounds.
“Ahmad had no vital signs when we reached him,” Aahed Smerat, one of the medics at the scene, said, “His son called for help, but when we arrived there, the soldiers stopped us and told us the man was under arrest, and later allowed us to take him away.”
The slain man’s sister, Ehman Kahala, said her brother and his son, Qussai, 18, were heading to work at a construction site when the soldiers stopped them at a military roadblock.
“They were assaulting my brother before an argument, and a brief scuffle broke out, and then they [the soldiers] just executed him….” She added.
His sister added that the slain man is a married father of five; two boys and three girls, and one of his daughters will graduate from high school this year.
Israeli allegations
The Israeli army alleged that the Palestinian “got out of his car, approached the soldiers and attacked them with a knife, in an area where Palestinian protesters were throwing stones at the army.”
Dr. Laila Ghannam, the Governor of Ramallah and Al-Biereh, said Ahmad Kahala’s execution is yet another Israeli crime against the Palestinian people and called on the International Community to act instead of shielding Israel from international prosecution for its ongoing war crimes.
Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, denounced Ahmad’s killing and said, “the criminals are ongoing with their crimes and violations of International law with impunity,” and called for international protection for the Palestinian people.
Ahmad Kahala is the thirteenth Palestinian, including three children, to be killed by Israeli soldiers in the first fifteen days of this year, 2023.
Three more Palestinian deaths Saturday
On Saturday dawn, Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians, Ezzeddin Bassem Hamamra, 24, and Amjad Adnan Khaliliyya, 23, near the main entrance of Jaba’ town, south of Jenin, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.
Also Saturday dawn, Palestinian medical sources at Iben Sina Hospital in Jenin, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, confirmed the death of Yazan Samer Ja’bari, 19, whom the soldiers shot earlier this month near Jenin.
Yazan was shot on January 2nd when the army invaded the town and detonated the home of two slain Palestinians, Ahmad Ayman ‘Aabed, 23, and Abdul-Rahman Hani ‘Aabed, 22.
The invasion led to massive protests before the soldiers fatally shot Mohammad Samer Houshiyya, 21, from Al-Yamoun, and Fuad Mahmoud Ahmad ‘Aabed, 18, from Kafr Dan, and injured many others, some seriously.
In 2022, the Israeli army killed 224 Palestinians, including 59 from Jenin, in the northern West Bank.
CONTEXT: The entire West Bank has been under Israeli occupation since 1967; all its official entrances and exits are controlled by Israeli soldiers, making its Palestinian inhabitants virtual prisoners. Many are families that were ethnically cleansed from Israel during Israel’s founding war (see this and this and this). Israeli forces often invade the territory, frequently beating and shooting people; one example is here.
Israel was established in 1947 through a war of ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population, both Muslims and Christians, and it continues to steal other people’s land for illegal colonies known as ‘settlements.’ While Palestinians most often use nonviolent resistance, a small number use armed resistance against the invaders.
Thanks to the pro-Israel lobby in the US, Congress disburses over $20 million per day of Americans’ tax money directly to and/or on behalf of Israel.
Israel boasts the fourth most powerful army in the world, behind only Russia, The US, and China.
For a complete list of Palestinians and Israelis killed since 2000, please visit Israel-Palestine Timeline
IMEMC, the International Middle East Media Center, is a media center developed in collaboration between Palestinian and International journalists to provide independent media coverage of Israel-Palestine. It was founded by the Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement between People in 2003. In 2021, IMEMC became a project of the American nonprofit organization If Americans Knew.
OTHER RECENT PALESTINIAN DEATHS AT THE HANDS OF ISRAEL:
- Palestinian, 19, Dies From Wounds Suffered in Jenin
- Invading Israeli forces kill 5 Palestinians in West Bank
- Israeli soldiers kill 4th Palestinian in 2023 (3 of them children)
- Israel has killed three Palestinians already in 2023
- Two Palestinian cancer patients die of Israeli medical neglect
FURTHER READING ON THE ISRAEL/PALESTINE ISSUE:
- Israel’s new radical government shows itself reckless and racist
- Israeli police officer who killed autistic Palestinian gets promotion
- 2022: 12 months of Israeli violence against Palestinians
- Israel’s latest killing spree – minor news to US media
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