RAMALLAH: Israel’s military shot and killed a Palestinian man during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian health officials said, while the army said it fired at someone who tried to seize a soldier’s weapon.
The Palestinian health ministry announced the death of 54-year-old Ziad Mohammad Jaber by “Israeli army gunfire in Umm al-Sharayet, in the city of Al-Bireh”, near Ramallah in the central West Bank.
In the early hours of Tuesday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said its crews were treating someone who sustained “a critical live-fire gunshot wound to the abdomen and thigh” during a military raid in Umm al-Sharayet.
It said the casualty was being transferred to hospital.
When contacted, the Israeli military said troops were carrying out “counterterrorism activity” in the area overnight when “a terrorist attempted to seize a weapon from one of the soldiers”.
“The soldier responded by firing towards the terrorist. A hit was identified,” it added.
Jaber’s brother, Ramadan Mohammad Jaber, said that the military raided his home at around 4am (0100 GMT) after blowing up the front door.
He said soldiers handcuffed him and held him with his daughter in a room before arresting his son. He added that soldiers had also blown up the door of the adjacent apartment where his brother lived.
“I heard him screaming but I did not hear the sound of gunfire,” he said, adding that his brother “was left bleeding in the apartment for about an hour and a half before the army allowed ambulance crews to take him to the hospital”.
A spokesperson for the Palestinian health ministry confirmed that Jaber was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.
The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has seen a surge in violence since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip.
Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2026
