Five Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers since start of 2023

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Since the start of 2023, five Palestinians have been killed by colonial Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank with no one brought to justice for their crimes.

The five martyrs are Tariq Maali, Karam Salman, Methkal Rayyan, Sameh al-Aqtash, and Abel al-Karim al-Shaikh.

Tariq Maali, a 42-year-old resident of Kafr Ni’ma, northwest of Ramallah, was shot and killed by an Israeli settler at the Sde Efraim farm, an illegal settler outpost, near his hometown on January 21.

Karam Salman, an 18-year-old resident of Qusin village near Nablus, was fatally shot by an Israeli settler near the settlement of Kedumim, which was illegally built on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank province of Qalqilya, on January 28.

Methkal Rayyan, a 27-year-old resident of Qarawat Bani Hassan, northwest of Salfit, was shot in the head and killed by an Israeli settler from a distance of 30 meters on February 11. A group of Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinians and opened gunfire at them on the northern outskirts of the town that day.

Sameh al-Aqtash, a 37-year-old resident of Zatara village, south of Nablus, was shot and killed by Israeli settlers rampaging through his village, Zatara on February 26. He was killed four days after returning from Turkey, where he had been supporting earthquake victims as a volunteer.

Abd al-Karim al-Shaikh, a 21-year-old resident of Saniriya town, south of Qalqilya, was shot dead on March 10 by an Israeli settler after he allegedly entered the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Shomron, east of the West Bank city of Qalqilya. The Israeli military claimed the youth was shot by the Israeli settler after he entered a farm allegedly armed with knives and makeshift explosive devices, killing him immediately.

The killings coincide with a surge in violent attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank as the violence has been condoned by the new far-right Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, with incitement from his ultranationalist cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Since the start of 2023, 80 Palestinians, including 15 children and an elderly woman, have been killed by Israeli occupation forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.