Field Updates

On Thursday, a Palestinian man was shot and killed in ‘Izbit Shofa village, south of Tulkarm. This incident falls under the state of the proliferation of weapons and assault on the rule of law in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 23:30 on Thursday, 09 April 2020, a person opened fire at Jalal Riyad Isma’il (21), from ‘Izbit Shofa village, south of Tulkarm. As a result, Isma’il sustained a live bullet in the head; he was taken to Tulkarm Governmental Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. In a phone call with Tulkarm governor Issam Abu Bakr yesterday, he said that Jala Isma’il was shot and killed by a person from Aktaba suburb on Thursday, while the victim was at ‘Izbit Shofa checkpoint with a group of young men and a dog; the dog caused chaos in the area and a drunken man attempted to shoot the dog to silence it, but the bullet accidentally hit Jalal’s head and immediately killed him.

In a statement by the police, Police Spokesperson, Lu’ay Erzieqat, said that Jalal Isma’il was shot with a live bullet in Izbit Shofa, south of Tulkarm, and he was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. The police and Public Prosecution opened an investigation into the incident to identify its circumstances, and the investigations are still ongoing.

PCHR condemns this incident, which constitutes an assault on the rule of law in the oPt. PCHR also calls upon the competent authorities to take strict measures to counter the misuse of weapons, which lately resulted in the killing and the injury of many citizens in incidents of social violence.