LONDON: A 26-year-old man was killed on Wednesday evening when an Israeli settler opened fire on a group of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, east of Ramallah.
Jihad Mohammed Ajaj was shot on a main road between the towns of Deir Jarir and Silwad. He was taken to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah but could not be saved, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
Fathi Hamdan, the head of Deir Jarir Council, said the settler had stopped Palestinian vehicles on the road before shooting at a group of people who approached him.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Ajaj was hit by several bullets, and two other people were wounded, one in the groin and the other in the abdomen.
Attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have increased sharply since October 2023. They have blocked roads used by Palestinians, targeted private and commercial properties, and sabotaged agricultural land in a number of places over the past two years.
Ajaj is the 13th Palestinian killed by Israeli settlers this year, and the 34th since Oct. 7, 2023, Wafa said.
