Jerusalem24 – The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced this afternoon the death of a Palestinian youth, hours after he sustained a critical injury when he was shot by the Israeli army during a military raid on Balata refugee camp in Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
21-year-old Ahmad Amer Salim Abu Junaid was shot in the head with live ammunition during armed confrontations with the army when they stormed the camp. Jerusalem24 is still working to ascertain the circumstances behind Abu Junaid’s death.
Undercover Israeli forces infiltrated the camp before dawn this morning and surrounded a house belonging to the Abu Shallal family, at which point armed confrontations erupted with Palestinian fighters from the camp. The Israeli army fired live ammunition, stun grenades, and tear gas.
The Palestinian Red Crescent announced they had recovered a “critical” injury from the scene around 6:30AM, which they transferred to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus.
The Ministry of Health announced Abu Junaid’s death at 3:30PM.
Abu Junaid is the second fatality in Balata refugee camp in less than a week. 17-year-old Amer Abu Zaytoun was shot and killed by the Israeli military in a nighttime raid on the camp on Thursday 5 January.
The Israeli military have now shot and killed five Palestinians including three children in 2023.
Unending grief in Balata camp
Around 41,000 residents live Balata refugee camp, which spans an area of 0.25 square kilometers. The camp is the frequent target of Israeli army raids, which have further increased in frequency and intensity throughout 2022.
Of the 153 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem who were shot and killed by the Israeli military or police in 2022, 33 hailed from Nablus including Balata, five of them children.
Abu Junaid knew 17-year-old Amer, who was the camp’s first casualty of 2023, and shared on his Facebook page a photo in mourning of Amer as well as 15-year-old Mahdi “Shimon” Hashash, who died of severe injuries caused by shrapnel to his abdomen and legs during an Israeli settler incursion into the site of Yusuf’s Tomb on the outskirts of Nablus on 9 November 2022.
Amer himself knew five of the Palestinian teenagers and youths from the camp who were killed by the Israeli army in the past 18 months, and posted frequent messages of grief and praise on his own Facebook page.
Abu Junaid studied media at Al-Quds Open University.
