53-year-old Palestinian man killed by Israeli forces near border in West Bank

According to Palestinian agency Wafa, the incident took place north of the occupied West Bank and the victim was identified as Nabil Ahmed Ghanem by the Palestinian health ministry.

The tension between Israel and Palestine was stoked once again on Sunday as a 53-year-old Palestinian man was killed by the Israeli forces near the border in Qalqilya city. According to Palestinian agency Wafa, the incident took place north of the occupied West Bank and the victim was identified as Nabil Ahmed Ghanem by the Palestinian health ministry. The victim belong to the village of northern West Bank city of Nablus and the shooting was described as a “field execution”, according to Reuters. It has caused a bit of uproar among the Palestinian community once again as Wafa reported that Ghanem was shot by the forces while trying to cross the separation border.

The Israeli forces have not taken the wall between the two regions down despite an order from the International Court of Justice and the shooting has added fuel to the controversy. The Israeli army spokesperson, however, maintained that the shooting took place because of possible vandalism.

In the last year, more than 60 Palestinians have lost their lives with a number of incidents taking place near the separation barriers. According to official data. around 165,000 Palestinians cross the border with special permits for work and calls for the walls to go down has been gaining momentum.

Meanwhile, the violence between the two sides continue as there were multiple clashes near the military checkpoint southwest of Tulkarm and five Palestinians were arrested. According to the report in Wafa, 13 Palestinians were also detained by the Israeli forces near the town of Bartaa, southwest of Jenin.