Israeli military kills one Palestinian in raid north of Jerusalem
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KUFR AQAB, Palestinian Territories – Israeli forces killed one Palestinian man on March 27 during a raid north of Jerusalem, the Ramallah-based health ministry and relatives said.
“The young man Mustafa Asaad Hamad (22 years old) was killed by Israeli gunfire in Kufr Aqab,” the ministry said.
The Palestinian entity in charge of the area, the Jerusalem governorate, reported that Israeli forces raided the Qalandia refugee camp, adjacent to Kufr Aqab, and injured several Palestinians with live fire early on March 27.
Family members of the deceased told AFP at his funeral that he was from the Qalandia camp.
Israel’s military told AFP it was “looking into” reports of the death.
The Kufr Aqab neighbourhood is technically part of Jerusalem, but is on the West Bank side of Israel’s separation wall, and therefore receives fewer municipal services, including policing.
Like Qalandia refugee camp and other areas around Jerusalem, it has seen increased Israeli raids since the beginning of 2026 after Israel launched operation “Capital Shield”, which it says aims to make Jerusalem safer.
The military has arrested dozens of Palestinians and destroyed several buildings it said were illegally built in Kufr Aqab, in raids since the start of the operation.
Palestinians fear the demolitions will pave the way for Israeli settlers to move into the area, as has happened in parts of east Jerusalem in recent months.
Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023. It has continued despite an October 2025 ceasefire.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,052 Palestinians, many of them militants, but also scores of civilians, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures. AFP
