A Palestinian man was martyred on Sunday evening after Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened fire on his vehicle during a resistance operation near the village of Jit, east of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank.

According to local reports, the driver carried out a car-ramming attack against Israeli troops stationed at the Jit junction, killing an occupation soldier. Hebrew media confirmed that the soldier, initially reported to have sustained severe head injuries, later succumbed to his wounds.

Witnesses said the Palestinian vehicle accelerated towards a group of occupation soldiers before being showered with live fire. The martyr, whose identity has not yet been released, was left at the scene under heavy military presence, as Israeli forces sealed off the area and prevented access to ambulances.

In the aftermath, the occupation army launched a sweeping campaign of raids and roadblocks across the northern West Bank, targeting the martyr’s home city of Nablus and surrounding villages. Residents reported home invasions, arbitrary searches, and the deployment of reinforcements in what Palestinians view as collective punishment.

The Israeli occupation military has claimed it is “investigating” whether its own gunfire contributed to the soldier’s death, an admission that reflects the chaos and panic among troops during resistance operations.

Palestinian factions hailed the incident as a natural and legitimate response to Israel’s escalating crimes in the West Bank and Gaza, stressing that such operations demonstrate the unbroken determination of Palestinians to confront the occupier despite daily massacres, arrests, and land theft.

Human rights organizations note that Israel’s policy of lethal force, road closures, and punitive raids against civilians following resistance attacks amounts to collective punishment — a direct violation of international law.

For Palestinians, the martyrdom in Qalqilya is a reminder that resistance remains alive across the occupied homeland, and that the sacrifices of individuals continue to strike blows against an occupying power that seeks to extinguish their struggle for freedom. (ILKHA)