Palestinian man shot dead while climbing West Bank barrier into Israel in search of work

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian authorities said that Israeli police have shot and killed a Palestinian man as he attempted to climb the concrete barrier separating the occupied West Bank from Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Health Ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent identified the man as Zakaria Qatusa, 44, from the town of Deir Qadis, about 13 miles northwest of the site of the shooting Tuesday evening in the West Bank town of Al-Ram, which abuts the wall.

Israeli police didn’t immediately respond to queries about the shooting. The funeral for the man was held on Wednesday.

Khalid Qatusa, his brother, said that he was a father of four who was crossing the wall in order to work in Israel.

“He was forced to resort to this method as there was no other opportunity to meet the needs of his household and live a dignified life. This was the only way,” he said. “He was neither an aggressor nor a threat.”

An increasing number of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank have attempted to enter Israel illegally to work in recent years. Before the Israel-Hamas war, tens of thousands of Palestinians held permits to work in Israel, but access was sharply restricted after the attack by Hamas on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Since then, unemployment has surged amid a deep economic slowdown and a shortage of jobs in the West Bank. Other shootings have taken place at the same location separating the West Bank town of Al-Ram from Beit Hanina, an east Jerusalem neighborhood.

As of May 11, at least 47 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.