RAMALLAH, June 25 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian was killed by Israeli army fire in the city of Salfit in the northern West Bank on Thursday.
Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that Mustafa al-Khatib, 32, was killed after Israeli forces stormed his home in the village of Sarta, west of Salfit, and shot him.
Local sources reported that Israeli forces prevented ambulance crews from reaching al-Khatib for two hours after he was shot inside his home.
With the killing of al-Khatib, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli army and settler fire since the beginning of 2026 has risen to 73, including 17 children, five women and two elderly people, according to official Palestinian statistics.
No official Israeli comment has been issued on the matter.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Commission against the Wall and Settlements reported in a press statement that Israeli authorities seized 464.4 dunams of land belonging to the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, under the pretext of "state land," for settlement purposes.
In a press statement, the head of the Palestinian National Council, Rawhi Fattouh, condemned the seizure, considering it "a dangerous escalation in the annexation and settlement colonialism project, and nothing more than a tool to impose colonial realities and complete the plan of displacement and ethnic cleansing" against the Palestinian people.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war and has established settlements there, a move not recognized by the international community. ■
