Palestinian Man Killed in Hebron as Israeli Raids Target Nablus and East Jerusalem Wedding

A 58-year-old Palestinian man, Shaker Falah al-Jaabari, died of gunshot wounds after Israeli forces opened fire on his vehicle in eastern Hebron, officials said, amid a wider surge of violence across the occupied West Bank.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, al-Jaabari succumbed to his injuries on Sunday morning after being shot the previous night. The Israeli military said troops fired at a vehicle that accelerated toward soldiers in the Haret al-Sheikh neighbourhood, but later stated that an initial review found no evidence the incident was an intentional attack. Palestinian sources reported that Israeli authorities seized his body and that emergency medical teams were prevented from reaching him.

On the same day, Israeli forces laid siege to a house in the Old City of Nablus. Undercover units reportedly entered neighbourhoods before military vehicles moved into the city from multiple directions. Palestinian security sources cited by Wafa said two Palestinians were arrested as troops deployed across several areas and live gunfire echoed through the eastern market.

In a separate operation in occupied East Jerusalem, security forces raided a Palestinian wedding, firing live ammunition and deploying stun grenades inside the hall. Video footage circulated online showed soldiers inside the venue and guests being forced outside; several men, including the groom, were arrested.

Wider Context

The incidents come amid alarming humanitarian and security trends documented by UN agencies. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that 240 Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank in 2025 to date, including 55 children. OCHA also recorded more than 1,800 settler attacks this year—the highest number since the UN began cataloguing such incidents in 2006—resulting in over 1,190 injuries, with 838 wounded directly by settlers.

Separately, a landmark UN human rights report published this week described Israeli policies as resembling “apartheid,” marking the first time a UN rights chief has used that term in this context. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for Israel to “dismantle all settlements” and described what he called a “systematic asphyxiation of the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank.”

Hours after the report’s publication, Israel cleared administrative steps to advance the controversial E1 settlement project near Jerusalem. A government tender seeks developers for 3,401 housing units on land critics say would effectively bisect the West Bank and undermine the prospects for a contiguous Palestinian state. Anti-settlement group Peace Now said initial construction could begin within weeks. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who oversees settlement policy, has said settlement expansion is deliberate and transformative to the territorial realities on the ground.

Al Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim reported from a Bedouin community at Ras al-Auja that families are being displaced under Israeli orders; she said 26 families had already left and about 20 more were preparing to depart amid intimidation by some settlers. More than half a million Israeli settlers now live in West Bank settlements, which most of the international community regards as illegal under international law.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli operations in the West Bank have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians and resulted in roughly 21,000 arrests, according to compiled figures cited in the article.