Israeli soldiers shoot and kill 21-year-old Palestinian in Nabi Saleh

Izz ad-Din Tamimi is the third resident of Nabi Saleh killed by the IDF since the village began its unarmed protests against the occupation a decade ago.

Ezz a-din Tamimi's father outside the hospital in Ramallah, June 6, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Ezz a-din Tamimi’s father outside the hospital in Ramallah, June 6, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Israeli soldiers shot and killed Izz ad-Din Tamimi on Wednesday morning during a raid on the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh.

According to the IDF’s version of events, Tamimi, 21, had joined several other young men from the village in clashes with soldiers. He approached the soldiers and threw a rock that hit one of the soldiers, who then opened fire.

Tamimi was shot twice, in the neck and chest, from a distance of roughly 50 meters, witnesses said. The IDF reported no soldiers were injured and that the killing was under investigation.

Israeli forces first raided Izz ad-Din Tamimi’s house last February to arrest him. When it turned out that he was not there, the IDF arrested his parents and brother instead, detaining them in Ofer Prison, where they were interrogated by the Shin Bet. Residents of Nabi Saleh said that the army had threatened to continue raiding the village until Izz a-Din turned himself in. The repeated raids ended Wednesday with his death.

Tamimi is the village of Nabi Saleh’s third casualty since its residents began an unarmed, popular struggle against the occupation roughly 10 years ago. Since the beginning of the uprising, the residents of Nabi Saleh have suffered daily threats of arrests, raids in the middle of the day and night, and routine violence.

Two men hold Izz ad-Din's Tamimi bloody shoot in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. June 6, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Two men hold Izz ad-Din’s Tamimi bloody, bullet-ridden shirt in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. June 6, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Ahed Tamimi, the teenage girl filmed slapping two heavily armed Israeli soldiers in the village last December, remains in prison, as does her mother, Nariman.

The body of Izz ad-Din Tamimi was transferred to the hospital in Ramallah to be received by his family in preparation for burial. His funeral is planned for Wednesday evening in Nabi Saleh.

Among friends and family waiting in the hospital in Ramallah was Izz’s neighbor, Manal Tamimi. “Izz was shot several times in the past. He was first arrested when he was 14,” she said.

“He was brave, always the first to head out to protests and clashes. He was wanted for three months and we knew the raids would end in disaster,” Manal continued. “Their goal [of the raids] was to send a message to the Tamimi family.”

Oren Ziv is a photojournalist with the Activestills collective. Yael Marom is Just Vision’s public engagement manager in Israel and a co-editor of Local Call, where a version of this article was originally published in Hebrew.