Three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in West Bank raid
Israeli forces have killed three Palestinians in a West Bank village during a raid that involved air strikes, as reported by Middle East Eye and agencies on October 28th.
The assault occurred in the early hours of the morning, as Israeli forces stormed the village of Kafr Qud and surrounded a house. The raid prompted strong exchanges of fire and aerial attacks.
The Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs have identified the three men as Abdullah Mohammed Omar Jalamneh, Qais Ibrahim Mohammed al-Baytawi, as well as Ahmad Azmi Aref Nashrati.
The three men had been cornered inside a cave by the Israeli army in the village, with snipers later shooting them, killing two and causing the third person to be wounded. This was followed by air strikes which killed the last man. At least two of the bodies were later seized by Israeli forces. The Israeli army alleged that the men had been plotting attacks in the area but no additional details were given.
The attack comes amid an escalation in Israeli settler violence during this year’s olive harvest season, further contextualised by Israel’s Knesset vote to annex areas of the West Bank. The vote is seen to jeopardise an already fragile ceasefire in Gaza, as the Trump administration tries to stabilise tensions sticking to the claim that the West Bank will not be annexed.
Despite this, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that forces would stay in the north West Bank refugee camps, such as Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams, which have reportedly been raided since January.
Hamas denounced the attack, referring to it a “dangerous escalation.” Israeli forces have escalated the use of air strikes in the occupied West Bank since October 2023, launching over 100 air strike attacks during the last two years, Israeli media has reported.
During that period, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, the majority shot during ground raids. Among the dead are at least 213 children, 20 women, and seven people with disabilities, UN figures have shown.
The UN reports that these deaths account for 43% of all Palestinians killed in the West Bank over the past two decades.
Middle East Eye and agencies, Maghrebi.org
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