By Anietie anii-bassey
A Palestinian man was killed on Sunday after being shot by Israeli forces near a separation barrier between the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, according to Palestinian health officials, in the latest deadly incident involving Palestinians attempting to cross into Israel in search of work.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the victim as 26-year-old Imad Haroun Ishtayeh, a resident of the town of Salim, located east of Nablus in the northern West Bank. According to the ministry, Ishtayeh was shot in the thigh by Israeli forces in the town of al-Ram, situated north of Jerusalem near the heavily fortified barrier that separates much of the occupied West Bank from Israeli territory.
Health officials said he was transported to the Palestinian Medical Complex in Ramallah, where doctors later pronounced him dead from his injuries.
The shooting occurred near one of the sections of the concrete and wire-topped barrier that thousands of Palestinians have attempted to cross over the years, often in search of employment opportunities inside Israel.
Videos circulating on social media appeared to show several people carrying Ishtayeh’s body away from the area and descending a ladder that had been positioned against the barrier. Vehicles continued moving along a nearby roadway as the scene unfolded, highlighting the stark contrast between everyday traffic and the violence occurring nearby.
Israeli police did not immediately comment on the incident, and no official Israeli account of the shooting was available on Sunday.
Initial reports suggested that Ishtayeh was attempting to cross from the West Bank into Israel without a permit. Such crossings have become increasingly common as economic conditions in the Palestinian territories continue to deteriorate and employment opportunities remain limited.
The incident is the latest in a growing number of fatalities involving Palestinian workers and job seekers trying to enter Israel through unauthorized routes. Earlier this month, another Palestinian man, a 44-year-old father, was killed in a similar incident while attempting to cross the barrier.
For many years, tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank relied on work permits issued by Israeli authorities to access jobs in construction, agriculture, manufacturing and other sectors inside Israel. These jobs often provided significantly higher wages than those available in Palestinian cities and towns.
However, access to Israel for Palestinian workers was drastically curtailed following the October 7, 2023, attack carried out by Hamas-led militants in southern Israel. In the aftermath of that attack and the subsequent war in Gaza, Israeli authorities imposed sweeping security restrictions that sharply reduced the number of work permits granted to Palestinians.
The restrictions have had a profound economic impact across the West Bank. Businesses have struggled amid declining consumer spending, investment has slowed, and unemployment has surged as thousands of workers lost access to their primary source of income.
The worsening economic conditions have driven increasing numbers of Palestinians to seek alternative ways of entering Israel, often risking arrest, injury or death. Human rights organizations and labor advocates have repeatedly warned that the lack of employment opportunities is pushing many workers into dangerous situations.
According to figures cited by the Palestinian official news agency WAFA, approximately 50 Palestinian workers have been killed by Israeli fire since the tightening of restrictions began.
The report, which cited the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions, also stated that more than 38,000 Palestinian workers have been detained by Israeli authorities during the same period, although many were later released.
The deaths and arrests have become a source of growing concern among Palestinian labor groups, which argue that economic hardship and limited access to legal employment opportunities are contributing to a humanitarian and social crisis in the West Bank.
The latest shooting is likely to further intensify tensions in the occupied territory, where violence has increased significantly since the outbreak of the Gaza war. Frequent military operations, clashes, arrests and attacks have contributed to a volatile security environment, while many Palestinian families continue to face mounting economic pressures.
As Ishtayeh’s family prepared for his funeral in his hometown near Nablus, his death added to the growing toll of Palestinians killed while attempting to cross the separation barrier, underscoring the increasingly desperate circumstances facing many workers seeking livelihoods beyond the West Bank.