NABLUS: The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) have confirmed the death of 30-year-old Walid Ahmad Khalifa, a resident of the Al-Ain refugee camp in Nablus, following his shooting and detention by Israeli occupation forces two days ago.
According to a joint statement by the two organizations, Khalifa was fatally shot during an Israeli military raid on his family home last Thursday.
Witness accounts from family members reveal that Khalifa was extracted from the residence on a stretcher, visibly injured, while calling out for his loved ones. His family has confirmed that he was conscious and aware during his detention, highlighting the traumatic circumstances of the incident.
The Commission and the PPS condemned Khalifa’s death as part of a systematic targeting of his family, citing the earlier assassination of his brother, Amir Khalifa, in August 2023, and the ongoing administrative detention of another brother, Khaled.
They asserted that Khalifa’s
killing is yet another example of Israel’s long-standing pattern of violence against Palestinians, exacerbated by the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories.
They attributed full responsibility for Khalifa’s death to Israeli occupation forces and renewed calls for international human rights organizations to take action. They emphasized the urgent need for these organizations to fulfill their roles and address the alarming impunity that has allowed such acts to proliferate.
Since the outbreak of the Israeli aggression on Gaza on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military has reportedly escalated its human rights abuses, including field executions and direct shootings during detentions. Many prisoners in Israeli detention centers are suffering from serious injuries inflicted during these operations, facing dire health conditions and inadequate medical care.
With Khalifa’s death, the number of Palestinian prisoners who have died in custody since October 7 has risen to 25.
Th
e overall total of martyrs from the Palestinian prisoner movement since 1967 has reached 262, including those who died in detention or shortly after being hospitalized post-detention. The identities of these individuals are documented and acknowledged by relevant organizations, underscoring the ongoing humanitarian crisis faced by the Palestinian people.
Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
