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Raid Kills Abu Raad
Israeli forces killed Palestinian Fathi Khazem, known as Abu Raad, at dawn on Friday after they stormed his home in Jenin in the northern West Bank, according to Al-Jazira Net sources.
“Israeli forces assassinated Palestinian leader Fathi Khazem (Abu Raad) inside his home in the Al-Masarwa neighborhood in the center of Jenin city at dawn on Friday.”
Al Jazeera Net said Khazem refused to surrender during the raid and rejected attempts to mistreat him before Israeli soldiers shot him directly inside his home, causing his death.
The Israeli army, by contrast, announced that it killed an armed Palestinian with a knife who, it said, attempted to carry out a stabbing attack against one of its soldiers in the Jenin area, confirming no injuries among its forces.
Israeli Channel 12 had previously reported the killing of a Palestinian by Israeli forces in Jenin, noting that the gunfire followed what it described as an attempted stabbing operation.
Competing Accounts and Voices
Israeli Channel 12 reported that the Palestinian attempted to stab Israeli troops during a military operation before the troops opened fire and killed him, and it said no injuries were reported among its forces, according to Anadolu Ajansı.
Anadolu Ajansı also reported that the Palestinian Red Crescent Society treated a 14-year-old boy who was shot with live ammunition in the chest and back during an Israeli raid near the Arab American University, and that the boy was transferred to a hospital.
In a separate account, Al-Jazira Net said Abu Raad told an Israeli soldier, 'Who are you to ask me to bow?' before a hand-to-hand clash and Israeli soldiers fired seven straight bullets at his body.
Al-Jazira Net further said Palestinian ambulances tried to reach the house but were blocked during the operation, while the Israeli army claimed its forces were conducting an operation in Jenin when an armed assailant attempted to stab one of its soldiers.
Family History and Wider Context
Al-Jazira Net said Abu Raad’s name rose to prominence since his first appearance in late April 2022, when he stood firm while receiving news of his son Raed’s martyrdom after a more than 10-hour pursuit and clash with occupation soldiers.
“Raed managed at that time to carry out an operation against the occupation on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv”
It added that Raed carried out an operation against the occupation on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, resulting in the killing of 3 Israelis and the injury of no fewer than 16 others, and that Abu Raad later appeared composed at the farewell of his other son, Abdulrahman, who was martyred while confronting the occupation that stormed Jenin refugee camp in late September 2022.
Arab News described Fathi Zidan Hazem as a retired colonel in the Palestinian National Security Forces and said the Palestinian health ministry stated he was 58 and that his body was being withheld by Israel.
Arab News also reported that violence in the West Bank has surged since the Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, and it cited Palestinian figures saying that at least 1,098 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers, while Israeli data said at least 48 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians or during Israeli military operations.