Update: Israeli police shot and seriously injured a Palestinian man from Nablus early Sunday near the Oyun al‑Haramiya area north of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank, before seizing him.
The killing occurred along Route 60, a corridor that has seen a sharp escalation in shootings, military operations, and colonizer attacks amid intensifying violence across the West Bank.
Initially, the Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs informed the Ministry of Health that the victim, identified as Ammar Majed Hassan Hijazi, 34, from Nablus in the northern West Bank, was fatally shot after Israeli police opened fire on his vehicle.
Palestinian sources reported that Hijazi was driving through the area when police fired directly at him, causing his car to crash into a concrete barrier. The Israeli army and police isolated the entire area and moved him to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem in an extremely serious condition.
Later on, Israeli sources, including The Times Of Israel, reported that the Palestinian driver was not killed but critically injured, and added that the police said he reportedly sped at officers before they shot him.
In its report, The Times Of Israel said Police stated that officers at the scene instructed the driver to halt, and added that as one officer moved toward the vehicle, the driver allegedly accelerated in his direction, leading the officer to open fire. The police alleged that the driver then tried to escape but slammed into a concrete barrier moments later.
Palestinian media outlets described the incident as part of a growing pattern of force used at military roadblocks and along major West Bank routes.
Hijazi was unarmed, and no weapons were found in the vehicle. Witnesses said they heard multiple bursts of gunfire and saw Israeli police sealing off the area immediately afterward.
Israeli police claimed the driver was speeding, ignored orders to stop, and “breached a military roadblock” near what Israeli outlets refer to as the “British Police Junction” on Route 60.
According to their statement, an officer approached the vehicle, after which the driver allegedly accelerated toward him, prompting the officer to fire. Police added that the driver then attempted to flee by reversing at high speed before crashing.
However, an eyewitness cited by Al‑Jazeera Arabic contradicted key elements of the Israeli narrative. The witness said the car had been speeding earlier, but emphasized that the fatal shots were fired after the vehicle had already stopped and reversed abruptly.
The account suggests the officer was not in immediate danger at the moment of the shooting and mirrors several recent cases in which Palestinians were killed at close range during traffic stops or after minor collisions.
Additional Palestinian outlets, including Arab48 and Ma’an News, reported that Israeli forces prevented Palestinian ambulances from approaching the scene and maintained a full closure of the junction for an extended period.
The killing comes amid a surge of Israeli military invasions and colonizer attacks across the Ramallah district.
Illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizers torched vehicles in the village of Atara, assaulted shepherds near Khan al‑Ahmar, and attacked Bedouin communities near Mikhmas.
Israeli forces have also intensified invasions and violations in nearby towns, including Turmus Ayya, Deir Dibwan, and Burqa, where military vehicles have been patrolling streets and alleyways daily.
Hijazi’s death adds to the mounting toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces across the West Bank. Local monitoring groups report that more than a thousand Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, including dozens in the Ramallah area alone, as Israeli forces and colonizers intensify operations across the territory.
