Palestinian worker killed by Israeli fire in occupied West Bank

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian worker and wounded another Tuesday evening in the town of al-Ram in the central West Bank while they were attempting to cross a separation wall into occupied East Jerusalem.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said in a statement that its crews transferred the body of a 47-year-old man to a hospital in Ramallah after he was shot in the head by Israeli forces while attempting to cross the separation wall in al-Ram, north of East Jerusalem.

Another Palestinian worker was transported to the hospital from the same area after being shot in the foot while trying to cross the wall, the organization added.

Palestinians are shot near-daily around the separation wall surrounding East Jerusalem and along the boundary between the West Bank and Israel while attempting to cross in search of work inside the city or in Israel, which occupies Palestinian territory.

According to figures from the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions, more than 50 Palestinian workers have been killed and over 38,000 arrested between October 2023 and May 1 this year.

Since the start of the Gaza war, Israel has barred Palestinian workers from returning to their jobs, prompting some to climb the separation wall despite the risks.

East Jerusalem is surrounded by a wall made largely of concrete and barbed wire, most of it built on West Bank land. The wall stands more than 8 meters (26 feet) high and stretches roughly 202 kilometers (125 miles), according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem.

While Israel claims the barrier was built for security reasons, Palestinians and the UN say it is part of a plan to annex Palestinian land to Israel.

In 2004, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion declaring the wall illegal because it was constructed on occupied Palestinian territory.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul