Israeli police opened fire on a 33-year-old Palestinian near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem on Friday, killing him. Authorities stated that border guards “neutralized” the man, alleging he attempted to stab an officer. The Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the deceased as Ibrahim al-Hendi from the Beit Hanina neighborhood in East Jerusalem. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and subsequently, Israeli forces deployed heavily around the gate and the Old City area.
In a separate development, the Israeli army blocked approximately 100 peace activists from delivering food and medicine to the occupied West Bank village of Qusra. The village has been under siege for 28 days, with Israeli settlers surrounding three homes since August 9 while the military designates the area as a “closed military zone,” preventing residents from entering or leaving.
The Israeli Peace Now movement reported that while troops initially allowed the activists to enter, they detained them upon return for allegedly violating the restricted zone. Qusra Mayor Abdel Azim Wadi confirmed to the Anadolu news agency that the army is preventing the delivery of basic necessities to the three families trapped on Mount Ras al-Ain.
Also on Friday, the Israeli military conducted operations in the West Bank, arresting Palestinians in Qabatiya on allegations of plotting attacks and detaining ten others during a 48-hour operation in Nablus. The army claimed to have seized over 30 machines used for weapon production.
Violence escalated across the occupied territory as settlers, accompanied by soldiers, attacked communities in Khirbet al-Hamra in the northern Jordan Valley and Khalet a-Nahlah in southern Bethlehem. Israeli forces fired tear gas and concussion grenades at Palestinians who gathered to resist the incursions.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee addressed the unrest in an interview with public broadcaster Kan, criticizing settler violence as damaging to Israel’s international image. He warned that the country “needs all the friends it can get” and should avoid making more enemies.
According to Palestinian figures, approximately 750,000 Israeli settlers reside in 156 illegal settlements and 360 outposts in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where they frequently carry out attacks aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinians.
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