Palestinian Lawyer Amana Yaqoub Killed by Israeli Forces Near Salfit On April 8, 2025, near the Haris Junction, west of Salfit, northern West Bank the 30-year-old Palestinian lawyer Amana Ibrahim Muhammad Yaqoub was shot and killed by Israeli forces. Eyewitnesses confirmed that the occupation forces prevented medical teams from reaching her and left her body to bleed until she died. According to local sources, the Israeli soldiers opened fire on Amana near the traffic lights at the entrance of Haris village, alleging she had been throwing stones at settler vehicles. These claims remain unverified, and no immediate threat has been independently confirmed. The Ministry of Health later confirmed her death, after the General Authority of Civil Affairs relayed the information. Witnesses reported that she was left to bleed to death at the scene. Amana Yaqoub was a mother of three daughters, an only child, and the daughter of a freed prisoner. Her death has sparked outrage among Palestinian communities and human rights advocates who denounce what they describe as a pattern of extrajudicial killings carried out with impunity. The same day, Israeli settlers stormed the town of Bidya near Salfit, West Bank, setting fire to a wedding hall and defacing the area with racist slogans

Around midday, an Israeli strike targeted a group of people collecting firewood in the Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City. Two people were killed.

Palestinian elder Ghazi Manasrah, 70, died of a heart attack after being assaulted by Israeli soldiers and forced to watch them attack his children while he tried to prevent the demolition of his home in Wadi Fukin, West of Bethlehem. A video circulating online showed Israeli soldiers severely beating several Palestinians residents with batons and rifle butts while demolishing their house. Six people sustained bruises and scratches in the assault, including 70-year-old Ghazi Badr Manasra, who suffered a stroke and was later pronounced dead. Earlier the same day, the Israeli army demolished seven Palestinian homes in different parts of the West Bank, citing “construction without a permit”. Israeli authorities prohibit construction and land rehabilitation in areas classified as “Area C” of the occupied West Bank without an Israeli issued permit – which Palestinians say is nearly impossible for them to obtain.

On April 8, 2025, Israeli occupation soldiers stormed Al-Quds University campus in the town of Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, ahead of a pro-Gaza march, attacking students with teargas canisters and stun grenades. Their aim was to broke into the university campus ahead of a demonstration in support of the Gaza Strip and in protest of the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Strip Following the raid, intense confrontations were erupted between students and Israeli, during which the gun-toting soldiers fired a barrage of teargas at students. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reports that 23 students suffered suffocation from teargas inhalation.

**April 7–8, 2025 in Salfit ** **On April 7** - shop owners in the occupied West Bank town of Salfit shuttered their businesses in solidarity with the global strike for Gaza. - Later that evening, Israeli occupation forces raided Salfit, arresting several Palestinians in a wide-scale operation. **On April 8** - The Israeli forces escalated their campaign of systematic demolition and destruction across the West Bank, targeting Palestinian homes in Salfit, Bethlehem, and Ramallah : 1. Two houses inhabited by ten Palestinians were demolished in **Burqin**, west of Salfit city according to Wassim Sabra, one of the homeowners. 2. A third house was demolished in **Wadi Fukin**, west of Bethlehem, due to an alleged lack of building permits. 3. In the early hours of the morning, Israeli bulldozers stormed the **Baqaan area west of Salfit**, demolishing two homes belonging to Mohammad Khaled Sabrah and Alaa Mahmoud Barakat. Both families had been living in these homes for over seven years. The Israeli authorities also issued demolition orders to dozens of residents in the area, reflecting an organized effort to forcibly displace Palestinians from Area C, as part of a broader and intensifying settlement policy. Israel often uses the pretext of lacking construction permits to justify the demolition of Palestinian homes. These demolitions are particularly common in Area C of the occupied West Bank. Area C, under full Israeli administrative and security control, comprises about 60% of the West Bank. **Pogrom in Bidya** Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Bidya, Zionist settlers invaded at dawn, set fire to the Flora wedding hall, and vandalized the area with racist, anti-Arab graffiti on walls in the town, including "death to Arabs.". Pictures also showed graffiti sprayed on walls in the town, reading “Revenge,” “Death to Arabs,” and “Fight the enemy, not the friend.”. No injuries were reported in the apparent arson and vandalism attack. By the time the Palestinian Authority’s security forces arrived, the attackers had fled. Authorities have since documented the aftermath. **Murder in Harsi intersection** Tragically, Israeli occupation forces also shot and killed a Palestinian woman at a traffic light near the Haris intersection, west of Salfit. According to the Israeli narrative, the woman allegedly attacked soldiers with a knife and stones before being fatally shot.

Around 8 am, an Israeli strike targeted a group of people on Wadi Al-Arayes Street in the Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City. **Names of the martyrs:** 1. Ghassan Bassam Al-Anqar 2. Awad Jamal Al-Harrazin 3. Saeed Ashour Daghmash

A midday Israeli strike targeted a group of people on Al-Nasr Street in Gaza City. At least six people, including a woman and a child were seen wounded in the immediate aftermath. Hours later, the identifies of three men were confirmed killed. **Names of the martyrs (identified):** 1. Muhammad Awni Al-Jojo 2. Hassouna Atef Al-Suwairki 3. Abdunasser Khadra (former football player)

Around 2:45 am, an Israeli airstrke directly targeted press tents next to the Nasser Medical Complex compound, setting the tents ablaze and killing journalist Hilmi Al-Faqaawi. A civilian accompanying the crew, Yousef Al-Khanzundar, was killed on the spot by shrapnel that struck him during his sleep. Hilmi's colleague journalist Ahmad Mansour was sitting next to him and suffered severe burns. He was documented in footage being burned alive while unable to move. Eight other journalists have suffered various injuries, including Hassan Eslayeh who was previously incited against by Israel. Hassan suffered a head njury and lacerations to his right hand fingers, leading to the amputation of two. His condition and that of other injured journalists is stable. The IDF's arabic spokesperson stated on a post on X that they had targeted journalist Hassan Eslayeh. According to Palestinian media outlets, the tent that was targeted belonged to Palestine Today TV. On April 8th, around 2:30 am, **journalist Ahmad Mansour** was pronounced dead after **succumbing to the grievous injuries** he suffered from being burned alive. **Names of the victims:** 1. Yousef Al-Khazundar (civilian, killed) 2. Hilmi Al-Faqaawi (journalist, killed) 3. Ahmad Mansour (journalist, succumbed to injuries the next day) 4. Hassen Eslayeh (journalist, injured) 5. Abdallah Alattar (journalist, injured) 6. Ahmad Al-Agha (journalist, injured) 7. Mohammed Fayeq (journalist, injured) 8. Ihab Al-Bardini (journalist, injured) 9. Mahmoud Awad (journalist, injured) 10. Majid Qudeih (journalist, injured)

On April 6, in the evening, the 14-year-old Palestinian-American child Amer Mohammed Rabie was reported shot and killed by Israeli occupation forces at the entrance of Turmus Aya town, north of Ramallah. **One American-Citizen teenager killed** - Amer Mohammed Rabie, along with two other teens, was shot at the entrance to the town. - According to The Palestine Red Crescent, its teams had taken the body of the deceased boy to a hospital. - Amer Mohammed Saada Rabee, 14, was born in Saddlebrook, New Jersey, and lived between the occupied West Bank and the US; - Amer, a US citizen, was shot 11 times and died from his injuries. **2 injured including another US-Palestinian citizens** - Two other boys were shot and injured in the lower abdomen and thigh respectively. Both boys - one with minor and the other with severe injuries - were taken to a Ramallah hospital. - A 14-year-old Abdul Rahman Shehadeh : he told AFP he was shot by a soldier while collecting fruit near the town. - A 14-year-old Ayoub Asaad was shot in the abdomen, and his father Ahed Asaad confirmed that the boy had a US passport. **Ambulance blocked by IDF** - Ahed Assad said that an ambulance that took his wounded son to hospital was stopped by soldiers : “We were stopped at a military checkpoint at the village entrance, and a soldier told me that he was the one who shot the three boys,“ he told AFP. - The mayor, Adeeb Lafi, confirmed that two of the teens were rushed to a medical centre, while the third, Rabea, was detained by Israeli soldiers before being pronounced dead : "Two of them were transported by ambulance to a nearby medical center and then to the hospital. The army arrived at the scene and detained the third injured boy, who is 14 years old and holds US citizenship" **The Palestinian health ministry statement** - One person was in critical condition and another suffered minor injuries in the same incident. - One of the wounded also had US citizenship. And Turmus Ayya, northest of the main West Bank city of Ramallah, is known for having many dual US-Palestinian citizens. - The Palestinian Authority's foreign affairs ministry denounced the Israeli forces‘ *“use of live fire against three children (...) Israel’s continued impunity as an illegal occupying power encourages it to commit further crimes”. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed Rabea's death, attributing it to "occupation forces."* **Perpetrator:** According to a pro IDF account on X, the perpetrator was the 636th Field Intelligence Battalion "Nitzan" (Assigned to the 877th Division – West Bank) :"*our fighters from Unit 636, who were on an ambush near the village of Turmus Ayya in the Ramallah area, spotted three terrorists throwing rocks at Jewish vehicles in an attempt to murder them. The fighters opened fire at them in order to eliminate the threat. One terrorist was killed; the other two apparently fled back to the village. Our forces are unharmed."* A short footage recorded in night vision was spread by IDF, showing three silhouets throwing little objects. The silhouets are then shot. This recording confirm the shot was not indiscriminated, nor perpetrated by "violent settlers" as wroten in the first articles like in the Guardian on Paril 6. **IDF statement** *“The soldiers opened fire toward the terrorists who were endangering civilians, eliminating one terrorist and hitting two additional terrorists,“* Israeli soldiers said the boys were "throwing rocks" at Highway 60, a motorway that runs through the occupied West Bank from Beersheba to Nazareth. They described the boys as "terrorists" **Local council head Lafi Shalabi declaration** He rejected the army's assertion, saying it was a distortion of facts : "The Israelis are being misleading. The boys were there because they were picking almonds. Even if the boy threw something at you, why would you shoot him? Just stop him," According to him, there were settlers in the area at the time of the incidents who also fired shots, so it is not clear whether the gunfire came from the army. The IDF did not comment on whether there were indeed settlers in the area at the time. The Turmus Ayya Local Council has asked the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem to intervene in the incident. **Context** Israel has occupied illegaly the West Bank, home to about three million Palestinians, since 1967. Violence has soared in the West Bank since in retaliation of then October 7 Hamas attack, even if there was no attack from this area. Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 918 Palestinians, including militants, in the West Bank since then, according to Palestinian health ministry figures. While Palestinian resistance and clashes during military raids have killed at least 33 Israelis, including soldiers, over the same period, according to official figures.  *The mother of Palestinian-American boy Omar Mohammad Rabea,14, who was killed by Israeli forces in Turmus Ayya village, mourning his body at a hospital, near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 6,2025. REUTERS* **Testimony of the Amer's father* At a press conference at the Palestinian American Community Center (PACC) in New Jersey, organizers condemned Israeli violence with U.S. government backing. Mohammed, father of the slain boy Amer, spoke via Zoom from the occupied West Bank. Amer's father, Mohammed, said his son, along with the other two boys, were climbing trees, and if they were throwing stones - of which there is no evidence that they were - it was likely they were trying to break off almonds to eat when they were fired upon by Israeli soldiers. “Even if he was throwing stones [at anyone], he was 14 years old. They could have caught him and stopped him, but they wanted to kill him". He said the Israeli military opened fire on three boys, and they shot 14-year-old Amer Rabee 11 times, including two in the head. He contacted the U.S. embassy but was met with delays and "unnecessary" questions despite his U.S. citizenship. Hours later, he was told his son’s body was at a military base near Nablus.The body was returned in a blue bag, without clothes.  *The Palestinian American Community Center in Clifton, New Jersey, held a press conference on Tuesday to address killing of 14-year-old Amer (Azad Essa/MEE)* **US State Department statement** On Tuesday, the US State Department said it was "aware" of the killing by Israeli forces of a Palestinian-American teenager, adding that it was still seeking more information on what had transpired. **** ### The previous harassement of his family house: According to Yesh Din ONG: "We met M.R. last summer in Turmusaya. His home, located on the town’s agricultural lands, was set on fire by settlers, apparently from one of the newly established farm outposts in the area that have been terrorizing the local Palestinian residents. On June 22, 2024, M.’s security cameras recorded a large group of young men conducting a “tour” of the area—two of them even took the time to dance in front of the camera. A week later, masked men arrived and smashed several of the cameras. M. watched it all unfold in real time and called the Palestinian DCO (District Coordination Office), asking them to summon the Israeli police to stop the attack. But the police only arrived the following day. When M. tried to reach the site to speak with the officers, soldiers cursed at him and expelled him from his own home. On Saturday, July 6, the masked men returned—this time, they poured flammable liquid into the house, set it ablaze with all its contents inside, and caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage. The next day, they returned and destroyed the remaining cameras documenting the incident. M., who, naturally, was afraid to approach for fear of being attacked, watched everything unfold via the app on his phone. On April 6, 2025, he received the worst news of his life: his 14-year-old son had been shot and killed by Israeli soldiers. Two of his son’s friends who were with him were wounded.. The army claimed they were “terrorists” who had thrown stones at a nearby road. According to the head of the Turmusaya council, the boys had been picking almonds, and even if they had thrown stones, they could have been arrested instead of being shot with live fire. He added that armed settlers were present at the scene. On April 18, we received a notice from the Samaria and Judea District Police that the arson case was closed on the grounds of “unknown suspect.”

Around 2 am, an Israeli airstrike targeted a desalination station in the Tuffah neighborhood, destorying it completely and killing the owner's son. The station used to provide clean water for multiple neighborhoods of Gaza City: Tuffah, Shujaiya, and Rimal.