Israeli forces kill Palestinian on first day of Ramadan
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank on Thursday (23 March), exhibiting no indications of calming down as Ramadan commences.
Amir Abu Khadijeh (25) was shot in the head by Israeli forces during a raid in the city of Tulkarem. Following his death, a huge crowd gathered and took to the streets to protest Abu's killing, reports Aljazeera.
According to a statement from the Israeli border police, its undercover team conducted a raid early on Thursday to apprehend a Palestinian man they believed to be responsible for several shooting incidents. The border police stated that once the man pointed a weapon at the authorities, they encircled the home he was in and began firing at him.
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Murad Droubi, a Palestinian Fatah Movement, informed local media that Israeli police raided the neighbourhood of Shufa in Tulkarem, barricaded its major entrance from residents and cars, and then surrounded the home where Abu Khadija was hiding.
Thursday marked the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the Palestinian territories.
In previous years, Ramadan has seen Israeli police attack Palestinians gathered around Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site. Ramadan coincides this year with Judaism's Passover and Christian Easter.
In 2021, the expulsion of Palestinian families from their homes in Jerusalem was the catalyst for widespread Palestinian protests across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.
Raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli security forces during Ramadan heightened tensions further and, four days later, an 11-day Israeli assault on Gaza began, ostensibly in response to rockets fired by Hamas towards Israel.
