Israeli forces fatally shot Mohammad Hassan Hosni Abu Hammad, a 41-year-old former Palestinian prisoner, on Tuesday evening near the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, east of Occupied Jerusalem.

According to local sources, Abu Hammad, a resident of Al-Eizariya, was first shot and injured by Israeli soldiers before being detained. His death was later confirmed by Israeli authorities.

Eyewitnesses reported that soldiers opened fire on Abu Hammad near a settlement bypass road adjacent to Ma’ale Adumim. The Israeli military claimed he had attempted to carry out a car ramming attack, a claim that has not been independently verified.

Palestinian rights groups have raised concerns about the use of excessive and lethal force by Israeli forces, particularly in areas of heightened tension and settlement expansion.

Al-Eizariya, a Palestinian town located just outside Jerusalem, has recently become the focus of intensified Israeli settlement activity. The adjacent settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, home to over 40,000 Israeli settlers, has been advancing plans to alter the town’s main entrance, effectively isolating it from neighboring communities.

The planned modifications are part of a broader strategy to facilitate settler movement between Ma’ale Adumim and Kedar, another nearby settlement housing roughly 5,000 settlers. This would come at the expense of Palestinians, severely restricting access for residents of Al-Eizariya, Abu Dis, As-Sawahira ash-Sharqiya, Arab al-Jahalin, Sheikh Saad, and thousands of travellers from Hebron and Bethlehem.

The current road network, which serves as a vital artery for these communities, is already under pressure. Critics warn that further closure or redirection would deepen existing hardship and isolation for Palestinians in the area.

Rights advocates argue that Israel’s ongoing land confiscation, settlement expansion, and infrastructure projects in occupied territory are in clear violation of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, which explicitly prohibits the transfer of an occupying power’s civilian population into occupied land.

The towns of Al-Eizariya and its neighboring communities are already surrounded by the Israeli separation wall, with only one access point left — located near the Ma’ale Adumim roundabout. This single exit has become a lifeline for the population, and any disruption could trigger wide-scale movement restrictions and humanitarian consequences.

The killing of Mohammad Abu Hammad marks yet another incident in a growing pattern of Israeli forces using lethal force against Palestinians — particularly in strategically targeted areas facing active settlement expansion and annexation.

Human rights organizations have repeatedly called for international accountability and for mechanisms to ensure protection for Palestinians under Israeli military occupation. Tuesday’s incident is expected to intensify scrutiny of Israel’s military practices and its ongoing settlement agenda in the occupied West Bank. (ILKHA)