At least three Palestinian resistance fighters were killed in the early morning of Friday, August 30, by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the town of Al-Zababdeh, south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. One of the slain fighters was later identified as Wissam Ayman Khazem (30 years old), who was the commander of Al-Qassam Brigade, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas in the West Bank. Khazem was reportedly shot dead as his vehicle was targeted by Israeli gunfire.
The other two fighters were identified as Maysara Suleiman Masharqa (33 years old), and Arafat Jaser Amer (27 years old), who were targeted by a drone after they had escaped the shooting attack. Amer was a member of Jenin Brigade, affiliated with Saraya al-Quds, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Masharqa was a field commander with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement Fatah.
In a statement published on Hamas’s Telegram channel, Al-Qassam mourned commander Khazem on Friday stating that he “ascended to martyrdom following an airstrike that targeted him after an engagement with uncover Israeli forces east of Jenin.”
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades stated on Friday: “We mourn one of our most prominent field commanders in Jenin Maysara Masharqa, who was assassinated in the town of Al-Zababdeh.”
Commenting on the assassination of its fighter and the large-scale-aggression that the Israeli military has been carrying out for the third day respectively in the West Bank, the Islamic Jihad said that the current aggression “will only further embolden the resistance in its ongoing endeavor to liberate the Palestinian territories from Israeli occupation.”
The corpses of the three fighters were reportedly confiscated by the Israeli Occupation Forces, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Confiscating the corpses of Palestinian freedom fighters has been a long-standing practice by the IOF, using them as bargaining chips for future negotiations. The practice is also seen by Palestinians as a collective punishment aiming at suppressing their legitimate right of resistance, and forcing them to surrender. However, with the passage of time Palestinians have become more steadfast and determined to end the occupation and liberate their homeland, in every possible way, and above all, through armed resistance.
Forced evacuation orders represent another form of collective punishments and flagrant violations of human rights that the IOF have been committing against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza strip. On Friday evening, the IOF forced Palestinian families to evacuate the eastern neighborhood of Jenin as part of its large-scale military operation in the West Bank.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese slammed Israel on Friday for justifying launching a large-scale offensive in the West Bank using “self-defense” as a pretext. Albanese wrote on X: “As an ongoing unlawful use of force, Israel’s occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories cannot be justified by any claim of self-defense.”
According to the Palestinian News and Information Agency WAFA, the Israeli occupation aggression on the northern West Bank has resulted in killing more than 21 Palestinians during the last three days, taking up the death toll of Palestinians in the West Bank to at least 673, since October 7, 2023.
