A team member from the United Nations was among the ten casualties during an Israeli armed forces operation in the West Bank region.
Associated Press - A representative of the United Nations was among ten individuals who lost their lives during a military operation conducted by Israel in the occupied West Bank, as reported by the Israeli military and the UN on Friday.
Sufyan Jaber Abed Jawwad, a waste management worker at El Far’a Camp in the West Bank, was reportedly shot and killed by a sniper from the Israeli military during a nighttime operation in the early hours of September 12, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Jawwad sustained three bullet wounds to his chest while enjoying a cup of coffee on his home's rooftop, as reported by Juliette Touma, the agency's communications director, to CNN on Friday.
The Israeli military asserts that Jawwad and the other individuals who perished were involved in "terrorist activities."
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, the spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), confirmed on Friday that Jawwad was killed during operations in the West Bank's Far'a region, and accused him of throwing explosive devices that posed a threat to the military forces in the area.
"IDF troops aimed and fired at him to neutralize the threat, resulting in his death," Shoshani mentioned. He also clarified that Jawwad was well-known to Israeli security forces and had a past of engaging in additional terrorist activities.
The IDF alleged that IDF troops had discovered and dismantled a vehicle equipped with explosives, laboratories for making explosives, operational communication hubs, and weapons during the operation that led to Jawwad's death.
CNN reached out to UNRWA for comment on the IDF's accusations.
Jawwad was the first UNRWA staff member to be killed in the West Bank in over a decade, as per UNRWA. He is survived by his wife and five children, as per the UNRWA.
On the other hand, at least 220 UNRWA staff members have been killed in Gaza since October 7, as announced by UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini on his social media account on Wednesday.
Jordan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Jawwad's killing in a statement on Friday, labeling it a "barbaric act."
In the past 48 hours, the other individuals who lost their lives during the Israeli operations were reportedly killed in the regions of Tulkarem, Nur Shams, and Tubas, according to the IDF.
Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, declared that the five individuals who were killed in Tubas were members of the Tubas Battalion in the West Bank, who were "setting up ambushes and explosive devices against" Israeli forces.
Military Operations in the West Bank
The deaths occurred in the midst of increasing Israeli military activity in the West Bank.
Recent military operations have had a significant negative impact on humanitarian resources in the area, according to UNRWA, leaving the refugee camps of El Far’a, Tulkarem, Nur Shams, and Jenin "particularly affected" and destroying essential infrastructure such as water and electricity supplies, as per UNRWA.
As a result, UNRWA was forced to halt its services to refugees in the area due to the "unacceptable risk" posed to both staff members and aid recipients by Israeli and Palestinian groups, including the danger posed by "improvised explosive devices by Palestinian armed actors."
Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called for a "complete overhaul" in the way Israeli forces operate in the occupied West Bank following the death of American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi at a protest last week.
The strong-worded reprimand came after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed on Tuesday that Eygi was most likely "struck unintentionally and indirectly by IDF fire."
Close to 700 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October, as per the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah and the UN. The statistics do not differentiate between militants and civilians.
AP’s Aida al-Refai contributed to this report.
The United Nations is expressing concern over the escalating violence in the Middle East, particularly in the occupied West Bank, where numerous civilians, including a UNRWA staff member, have lost their lives in recent military operations. The Israeli military operation in the Tubas region resulted in the deaths of five individuals, labeled as members of Islamic Jihad by their militant wing.
