JENIN, Palestine (Imemc, AA, Wafa): A Palestinian youth was shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health.

A ministry statement said a 29-year-old Palestinian was shot while trying to cross an Israeli separation barrier heading to his work west of Jenin.  

The Palestinian Health Ministry has confirmed that the Israeli soldiers fatally shot Ra’fat Ali Ayasa, 29, from Sanur town, southwest of Jenin.

Mahmoud Saadi, the head of the Emergency Department at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Jenin, said the soldiers shot Ra’fat with several live rounds.

The Palestinian, a construction worker, was trying to enter occupied Jerusalem to work through a breach in a section of the illegal Annexation Wall when the soldiers fired a barrage of live rounds at him and several other workers who managed to escape unharmed.

After shooting the Palestinian man, the soldiers took him to the Salem military base and later allowed his transfer to PRCS medics before he was rushed to the Ar-Razi Hospital in Jenin, where he was officially pronounced dead.

His uncle said that Ra’fat was a married father of one girl, had no political affiliation, and was only trying to work to provide for his family.

Thousands of Palestinians marched in Jenin, Jenin refugee camp, Sanur, and several other areas in Jenin, condemning the cold-blooded murder of the Palestinian worker and the seriously escalating Israeli violations.

Processions were also held in front of Khalil Suleiman governmental hospital in Jenin before the Palestinians marched in the city and the Jenin refugee camp, denouncing Ra’fat’s execution-style killing while all he wanted was to work to provide for his family.

There was no comment from the Israeli authorities on the report.

Earlier Wednesday, a Palestinian was killed, 60 injured, by Israeli army fire during storming of Joseph’s tomb by Israeli settlers supported by Israeli soldiers near Nablus in West Bank, Palestine.

Palestinians often use holes in the Israeli separation barrier in the West Bank to cross into Israel in search for work.

With the killing of Ayyaseh, Israel has killed 200 Palestinians since the start of the year, including 144 in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, 50 of them from the Jenin area alone, including 28 killed in action or were assassinated, 52 in the Gaza Strip, and four Palestinians from inside Israel.

[Photo: Rafat Ali Ayyaseh, 29, was killed after Israeli soldiers opened fire at him west of Jenin on 9 November 2022. Photographer: Imemc]