Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager in Hebron on Tuesday. The boy is the latest victim of an intensified military operation across the occupied West Bank, with entire communities under siege.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the slain teenager as 17-year-old Muhanad Tariq Muhammad al-Zugial, who was shot with live ammunition after several hours of searching in Hebron’s Abu Dajan neighborhood.
Israel claims al-Zughar injured a soldier in a car-ramming operation hours earlier, but an independent investigation has not yet been launched.
After being injured, the boy reportedly fled into the city, where an infiltration unit tracked him down and deliberately killed him.
Israeli forces have seized his body, which Palestinians denounce as routine mass punishment targeting the families of the dead.
Mohammad Raslan Mahmoud Asmal, 18, was also shot on the ground after being stabbed and left bleeding for several hours as Israeli forces blocked the approach of members of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. His body was also seized.
In addition, troops attacked Al-Ahly Hospital, Mohammed Ali Hospital, and Armizan Hospital in Hebron, blocking the entrances and preventing the free movement of medical staff.
Soldiers blocked access points to the northern city with iron gates, concrete barriers and military checkpoints, blocking civilian movement.
In Nablus, soldiers blew up the apartment of prisoner Abdul Karim Sanobar. In al-Waraja, two apartment buildings were demolished.
Armed settlers have stepped up their attacks, setting tractors on fire in burqas and seizing freshwater springs near Bethlehem.
This escalation signals the continuation of systematic repression. The Palestinian Health Authority reports that more than 1,070 Palestinians have been killed and more than 10,300 injured in the West Bank since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
According to a report by the Palestinian Prisoners of War Association, nearly 21,000 Palestinians have been arbitrarily arrested in the West Bank and al-Quds (Jerusalem) since October 7, 2023, at the same time as Israeli forces destroyed the family homes of suspected attackers.
All Israeli settlements remain illegal under international law, a position the International Court of Justice reaffirmed last year.
Palestinians describe the simultaneous killings, sieges, destruction and arrests as a systematic campaign of collective punishment aimed at crushing resistance and erasing the Palestinian presence from the occupied territories.