Palestinian shot dead by Israeli forces in West Bank

Israeli forces shot a Palestinian man dead on Friday in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said, as illegal settlers separately began building a new settlement outpost in the Jordan Valley.

Palestine's Ministry of Health said it was informed by the General Authority of Civil Affairs that Jabrin Ahmad Jabr Qatt, 59, died after being shot by Israeli forces in the town of Madama, south of Nablus, and that his body was being withheld. The Israeli forces prevented medics from reaching him, the ministry said.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its crews were barred from accessing a wounded man earlier in the evening, adding that Israeli forces later detained him and transferred him to an unknown location.

Israeli forces used live fire, stun grenades and tear gas during clashes with Palestinian youths near the Yitzhar settlement, built on land belonging to Madama, local sources told Anadolu.

Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,108 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, injured nearly 11,000, and detained 21,000 since October 2023, Palestinian figures showed.

In a separate development, illegal settlers on Friday began constructing a new settlement outpost in Khirbet al-Malih, in the northern Jordan Valley, northeast of the occupied West Bank, according to the Al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights.

Illegal settlers started building the outpost opposite the historic hotel at the Malih Hot Springs, the group added, describing the move as an attempt to pressure Palestinian residents into leaving their homes, farmland and grazing areas.

Al-Baydar said illegal settlers carried out repeated attacks against residents of Khirbet al-Malih in January, including threats, direct assaults and attempts to seize land, as part of a systematic policy targeting Bedouin communities in the northern Jordan Valley, with the protection of Israeli forces.

In December, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the government had legalized the status of 69 settlement outposts in the West Bank over three years, calling it "an unprecedented figure."

The UN considers Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory illegal under international law and says they undermine the viability of a two-state solution. Palestinian officials have repeatedly urged the international community to pressure Israel to halt settlement activity.

Official Palestinian reports estimate that by the end of 2024, about 770,000 illegal settlers were living in the West Bank, spread across more than 180 settlements and 256 outposts.