By Harun Nasrullah
London, (The Muslim News): Israeli forces have shot dead a 16-year-old Palestinian during a raid in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian officials, amid a wider escalation of violence across the Palestinian territories.
The General Authority of Civil Affairs said Muhammad Iyad Abahra was killed by Israeli gunfire late on Saturday in the village of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin, and accused the Israeli military of withholding his body. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli troops fired live ammunition and stun grenades during the operation.
The killing comes against the backdrop of intensifying violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 2023. Palestinian figures say Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,093 Palestinians during this period, injured nearly 11,000 others, and detained around 21,000 people.
Tensions have also flared in Gaza, where Palestinian sources say a fragile ceasefire was breached on Saturday following an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City. A medical source told Anadolu Agency that the strike hit a civilian vehicle on the Al-Rashid coastal road, killing four Palestinians. The Israeli military said the attack targeted a senior Hamas figure, later identified by Army Radio as Raed Saad, described as the group’s second-ranking commander in the Strip.
Hamas condemned the strike as a “criminal violation of the ceasefire agreement,” accusing Israel of deliberately undermining efforts to stabilise the truce. In a statement, the group called on international mediators to intervene, warning that Israel’s actions threatened to collapse the ceasefire altogether.
According to Palestinian sources, Israeli actions since the ceasefire came into effect on 10 October have killed at least 386 Palestinians and wounded more than 1,018 others. The overall death toll in Gaza since the start of the war has surpassed 70,300, the majority of them women and children, with more than 171,000 people injured.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has been further compounded by a severe polar storm, named Byron, which swept through the territory over the weekend. Gaza’s Government Media Office said the storm killed 11 Palestinians, caused 13 already-damaged homes to collapse, and destroyed or damaged more than 53,000 tents sheltering displaced families, directly affecting around 250,000 people.
Flooding from stormwater reportedly overwhelmed sewage systems, destroyed food aid, and damaged medical supplies. Aid agency Oxfam warned that Israel’s continued restrictions on shelter materials, fuel and water infrastructure have left Gaza’s population exposed to “entirely preventable harm”.
Diplomatic tensions have meanwhile intensified. Palestinian officials welcomed a UN General Assembly resolution passed on Friday demanding that Israel lift restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, describing it as an affirmation of international law and multilateral accountability.
Beyond Gaza, instability continues to spread across the region. In southern Lebanon, Israeli forces fired mortar rounds near the town of Dhayra on Saturday, while drones conducted extensive overflights of Beirut’s southern suburbs. Israeli media, citing security officials, reported that the military has completed preparations for a potential large-scale attack on Hezbollah-linked sites should Lebanon fail to implement a US-backed disarmament plan by the end of 2025.
In Syria, Israeli troops reportedly carried out a ground raid in the village of Sidat al-Hanout in Quneitra province, searching homes and establishing checkpoints. Syrian authorities said a UN fact-finding committee has since arrived in the area to document alleged violations.
The Israeli military also confirmed that two of its reserve soldiers were lightly wounded by an explosive device in southern Gaza on Saturday. Since October 2023, Israel says 923 of its soldiers have been killed and 6,408 wounded across all fronts.
[Photo: Palestinians attend the funeral ceremony of the four Palestinians, including Raid Saad, a commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, who was killed as a result of an Israeli airstrike that violated the ceasefire and targeted a car west of Gaza City, after the funeral prayer at the Great White Mosque in the Al-Shati refugee camp of Gaza City, Gaza on December 14, 2025. Photojournalist: Saeed M. M. T. Jaras/AA]
