17-year-old Palestinian shot and killed by Israeli forces as West Bank rises to support Jerusalem

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated Osama Adawi was 18 years old; he was in fact a 17-year-old minor. This article has been updated to reflect this and to include information gathered by Defense for Children International – Palestine.

Jerusalem24 – A 17-year-old Palestinian teenager was shot and killed yesterday afternoon by Israeli forces during confrontations between local youth and the Israeli army in Al-Aroub refugee camp north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

Osama Mahmoud Hassan Adawi was shot in the abdomen with live ammunition and pronounced dead shortly after his arrival at the Arab Society Hospital in Beit Jala, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International – Palestine.

“I know how I raised him. He was a good boy,” Osama’s mother said in a video distributed on social media, when asked about her son.

Osama is the sixth child killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank in less than a week.

Israeli forces have now shot and killed 106 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in 2022, including 29 children. This marks a sharp increase over last year’s toll of 90 Palestinians shot and killed in the West Bank for the whole of 2021, and an average of 41 during the Netanyahu era.

In December 2021, the Israeli military changed its rules of engagement in the occupied West Bank, explicitly allowing its soldiers to shoot-to-kill Palestinians even if they are fleeing and presenting no danger.

Confrontations continued between local youth and Israeli forces at the entrance to Al-Aroub camp following Adawi’s death.

Israel “loses control” of Jerusalem

Confrontations had been taking place across the West Bank yesterday, including in Al-Aroub, in solidarity with the residents of Shuafat refugee camp, Anata, and other East Jerusalem Palestinian communities under a full Israeli military siege and lockdown since an Israeli soldier was killed in a shooting attack near Shuafat last Saturday night.

The residents describe the measure as “collective punishment”, with residents trapped, patients unable to reach critical medical services, regular power outages, and food and medicine supplies running low.

On Tuesday night, the residents formally declared civil disobedience and called on Palestinians across the West Bank including East Jerusalem to implement a general strike in support of the residents.

Most villages and cities observed the strike yesterday, with universities and businesses remaining closed and messages of solidarity displayed on shuttered shop fronts.

Last night, confrontations with local youth and as well as armed confrontations between Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces broke out in Qalandiya east of Jerusalem, and in Silwan, Sur Baher, Shuafat, Ras Al-Amoud, Sheikh Jarrah, Beit Hanina, Al-Tur, Jabal Al-Mukkaber, Al-Ram, Al-Sawwana, Wadi Al-Joz, Anata, and Al-Essawiya in occupied East Jerusalem.

Two Israeli officers were reportedly injured. Israeli Channel 14 said that Israeli authorities had “lost control” of Jerusalem last night.

Israeli forces also launched a massive arrest campaign last night, detaining a total of 17 Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem and its surroundings.

The Jerusalem Governorate has announced the formation of a legal team working to put an end to the siege, two days after it announced its intention to petition the Israeli Supreme Court.

“Days of rage”

Palestinian armed group the Lions’ Den called for “days of rage” on Tuesday, and for Palestinians to confront Israeli forces in the West Bank. The armed group have carried out over half a dozen shooting attacks since then, including one close to the illegal Israeli settlement of Shavi Shomron near Nablus which killed an Israel soldier on Tuesday afternoon.

Israeli forces are maintaining a large military presence surrounding Nablus, which has been at the heart of Palestinian armed activity in the occupied West Bank, and have sealed several roads with dirt mounds and closed checkpoints leading to the city and surrounding villages.

Israeli settlers have also taken to blocking roads in recent days around Nablus, using large rocks or small boulders or by standing in the roads in large groups. Palestinians commuting from the northern part of the West Bank are finding it increasingly difficult to access the central and southern parts, as the main road connecting north to south runs through Nablus and Huwara.

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles at the Huwara intersection south of Nablus last night, as well as a supermarket in the village where they sprayed its owner with pepper spray. Settlers also attacked residents in the town of Qusra south of Nablus, setting fire to a residential building and destroying a farm, killing 30,000 chickens. Following the attack,  Israeli soldiers shot and injured two Palestinians who came to confront the settlers.

Late last night, Israeli settlers under the protection of a large force of Israeli soldiers broke into the site of Yosef’s Tomb near Nablus to pray. The Lions’ Den called for Palestinians to mobilize around the tomb and to light tires on fire to thwart sniper fire. However, no injuries were reported and the Israeli army and settlers retreated from the site around 3AM.

“A broad invasion without a clear expiry date”

While Nablus residents continue to face siege-like conditions of their own, shooting attacks against Israeli targets – the majority of which have been claimed by Nablus-based the Lions’ Den – continue unabated in the northern region.

Haaretz reported on 29 September that Israel was studying three scenarios concerning the escalation in the occupied West Bank, with the first involving “excessive restraint” in Israeli military operations in the West Bank; the second, a continuation of current activity levels with so-called “targeted” operations; and the third, “a broad operation focusing on Jenin and its surroundings, involving a large number of units, [which] may continue without a clear expiry date.”

Veteran journalist and political analyst Mohammad Daraghmeh told Jerusalem24 last week that “if the attacks continue from Nablus and Jenin against Israeli targets, it’s a possible scenario. I think they will go for the broad invasion.”