The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF)’s escalation of killings in the West Bank, where they have killed 9 Palestinians, including 5 civilians; one of them an old woman, in four separate crimes within three days in Nablus, Qalqilya, and Tulkarm. These crimes coincide with IOF’s genocidal campaign in Gaza ongoing for over 14 months. 

According to PCHR’s field documentation, at around 10:10 on Thursday, 19 December 2024, an Israeli special unit infiltrated Balata refugee camp using two civilian vehicles: one a foodstuff truck and the other a white Volkswagen Caravelle. The vehicles were stationed in al-Jamaseen neighborhood at the end of the market in central Balata. As soon as the special unit stepped out of the civilian vehicles, they were discovered. Immediately, the special unit opened fire at people in the market, killing an old woman, Halima Saleh Hasan Abu Lail (80) after being shot with two live bullets in the chest and leg.  Afterwards, IOF, who were on the rooftop of a residential building, shot Qusai Hamed ‘Issa Masrouj (25) while he was on his house balcony on the 3rd floor. Masrouj was left to bleed in front of his family until the IOF’s withdrawal from the camp at around 12:30. He was then transported to Rafidia Governmental Hospital in Nablus, where he was pronounced dead succumbing to his injuries. Moreover, four Palestinian civilians were injured; two were deemed in serious condition after being shot in the abdomen and back. The unit also arrested one of the injured, a shop owner, while he was being transported in a civilian vehicle.

In the second crime, as part of extrajudicial executions (assassinations), IOF have killed four Palestinians after Israeli warplanes targeted a vehicle they were traveling in, in the middle of a residential area inside Tulkarm refugee camp, east of Tulkarm city. According to PCHR’s field documentation, at approximately 13:16 on Thursday, an Israeli drone bombed a gray Mazda vehicle on al-Balawna Street, a densely populated area in Tulkarm Camp. As a result, four Palestinians allegedly affiliated with Palestinian armed groups were killed, and four other civilians, including two children, were injured. Shortly after the airstrike, IOF, backed by several military vehicles and warplanes hovering above as well as bulldozers, moved into Tulkarm City and its camp and headed to the incident scene. 

In their third crime, IOF have killed in cold blood two Palestinian workers near the annexation wall in Qalqilya while they were attempting to enter Israel for work. According to information obtained by PCHR’s fieldworker, at approximately 14:00 on Tuesday, 17 December 2024, Diyaa Shareef Selim (31) and Mohammed Zaki Ashqar (32) attempted to sneak through a hole in the annexation wall in the al-Marj area, north of Qalqilya, to work in Israel. At the time, IOF stationed at the annexation wall shot both dead in cold blood and then handed their bodies over to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), which transported them to Darwish Nazzal Hospital.

In the fourth crime, IOF have killed a Palestinian civilian on the rooftop of his house in Qusra village, east of Nablus. According to PCHR’s field documentation, at around 18:00 on Tuesday, IOF moved into Qusra village, where they deployed in neighborhoods under heavy gunfire and teargassing. As a result, the family of Katson Sayil Rebhi Hasan (47) suffocated due to teargas inhalation and was forced to close the windows of their house.  After about twenty minutes, the gunfire stopped, and Katson’s family living in the center of Qusra village believed that the IOF withdrew. Afterwards, Katson and his son 20-year-old son Sanad went up to the roof of their two-story house, where the IOF opened fire at them, injuring Katson with a live bullet in his chest. Sanad immediately pulled his father down and then transported him to Algeria Medical Center, which referred him to Yasser Arafat Governmental Hospital in Salfit and then to the Specialized Arab Hospital in Nablus. The following day, 18 December 2024, Katson was pronounced dead at 17:30. 

Thus, the death toll of Palestinians in the West Bank since the beginning of this year has risen to 509, including 90 children and 15 women; one was a foreigner activist.

PCHR condemns the IOF’s escalation of killings and reiterates its call on the international community to take an immediate action to stop the Israeli crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt) and end decades of Israeli war criminals’ impunity.