The Israeli human rights group said on Tuesday that it documented the killing of a Palestinian by an Israeli occupier in the occupied West Bank, disputing the Israeli army’s account of the incident.
B’Tselem said in a statement that since February 28, “under the cover of the ongoing regional war, settlers militias have escalated attacks on Palestinian villages across the West Bank, including widespread use of live fire that has killed and wounded Palestinians”.
The group said that “at least seven Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded by settlers during that period”.
B’Tselem said footage shows an Israeli occupier shooting and killing a Palestinian in the village of Deir Jarir in eastern Ramallah.
According to the group, two occupiers entered village land on Saturday with a flock of sheep as part of efforts to seize land and displace residents. Villagers confronted them by throwing stones in an attempt to drive them away.
Two additional occupiers arrived to support them, including a reserve soldier serving in a regional defense battalion, who opened fire toward residents, prompting them to flee, it added.
During the shooting, 23-year-old Ali Hamadneh was struck in the back while fleeing and “posed no threat,” said the group, adding that he later died from his wounds.
The rights group said the video shows the occupiers who fired the shots, villagers fleeing under gunfire and Hamadneh being hit in the back.
The group said the documentation contradicts an Israeli military statement that “a number of Palestinians threw stones at an Israeli civilian”.
The military said its initial inquiry found that “a number of Palestinians hurled rocks toward Israeli civilians”.
B’Tselem said “no military force was present at the scene except for the settler soldier” who came to support other occupiers and was the one who shot Hamadneh as he fled without posing a threat.
Occupiers firing live fire at Palestinians defending their land has become a recurring pattern in the West Bank, said the group.
It warned that “unchecked violence” forms part of tools used by Israel to implement a policy of “ethnic cleansing” in the West Bank.
Israeli forces have killed 1,060 Palestinians in the West Bank between November 2023 and April 12, 2026, including at least 32 killed by occupiers, according to B’Tselem.
It added that since the start of 2026 through April 12, 35 Palestinians have been killed, including at least eight by occupiers.
Residents of Deir Jarir buried Hamadneh on Monday after a funeral procession from his family home to the village mosque, according to an Anadolu correspondent.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Saturday that Hamadneh was shot by occupiers during an attack on the town, with a bullet entering his back and exiting his chest, and that he later died after arriving in critical condition at the Palestine Medical Complex.
The official Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission said the attack came amid a continued rise in occupiers’ violence across the West Bank.
In a previous statement, the commission said occupiers carried out 443 attacks between February 28 and March 28, including shootings, property arson and attempts to establish new outposts.
Violence by Israeli forces and occupiers in the West Bank has intensified since the genocide in the Gaza Strip began in October 2023, killing more than 1 148 Palestinians, wounding 11 750 and leading to 22 000 arrests. – AA
