Israeli forces kill Palestinian man near Hebron in occupied West Bank

The Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man near Hebron (al-Khalil) in the southern occupied West Bank on Wednesday, 20 December.  

The Wafa news agency reported that Basel al-Muhtaseb, 28, was shot and killed as he was driving a vehicle in Ainoun, north of the city. 

The details of the incident are not clear, but a video of the scene showed Israeli soldiers approaching a stationed white vehicle as onlookers stood in the distance. Moments later, two gunshots were heard. 

Israeli media have described the incident as a "thwarted" car-ramming attack. "An IDF reserve force present at the scene eliminated the assailant. There were no casualties", Ynet news reported. 

هذا الشاب اسمه باسل المحتسب، يعمل في شركة أدوية كمندوب مبيعات، تخرح من جامعة بوليتكنك فلسطين كمهندس مدني، أعدمه جنود الاحتلال اليوم عند مدخل بيت عينون- الخليل، فقط غيّر مسار سيارته لأن المدخل مغلق، وعاد للطريق الالتفافي، وقبل أن يلف السيارة أطلق الجنود رصاصتهم نحوه، ليرتقي شهيدا pic.twitter.com/J8i8sIvzqk

— Duha Dkeidek (@duhadk8) December 20, 2023

"This young man's name is Basil Al-Muhtaseb. He works in a pharmaceutical company as a sales representative. He graduated from Palestine Polytechnic University as a civil engineer. The occupation soldiers executed him today at the entrance to Beit Ainun - Hebron. He only changed the path of his car because the entrance was closed and returned to the bypass road. Before turning the car, the soldiers fired. They fired their bullet at him, making him a martyr", Duha posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. 

510 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank so far in 2023, with 302 of those deaths occurring since 7 October.