Dia’ Mohammad Shafiq Rimawi

Their life

Dia’ Mohammad Shafiq Rimawi was a 16-year-old Palestinian from Aboud village in the central occupied West Bank. He was fatally shot by Israeli soldiers on December 9, 2022, during a military operation. Dia’ was an eleventh-grade student and the oldest sibling in his family. His death marked one of many in a year of escalating violence in the West Bank.

Dia’ Mohammad Shafiq Rimawi was a 16-year-old Palestinian teenager from the village of Aboud, located northwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. He was the eldest sibling in his family and was attending eleventh grade at a school in nearby Beit Rima. On December 9, 2022, Dia’ was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers during a military incursion into his village. The incident also left several other Palestinian youths injured—two seriously and three moderately wounded. Eyewitnesses reported that after Dia’ was shot, he was left bleeding on the ground while Israeli forces refused to allow Palestinian medics to reach him. Following his death, his body was transferred to the Palestinian side and taken to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah. His funeral procession was held in Beit Rima.

Dia’ was the nephew of Wiliam Rimawi, a Palestinian prisoner serving a 32-year sentence in Israel. His death was part of a broader pattern of violence during that period, which saw numerous Palestinians killed or injured by Israeli forces, including a deadly raid in Jenin just days before. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Dia’ was among 217 Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers since the beginning of that year, with 165 deaths in the West Bank alone. His story reflects the ongoing human cost of the conflict in the occupied territories.

How they died

He was fatally shot by Israeli soldiers

Dia’ Mohammad Shafiq Rimawi died as a direct result of gunshot wounds inflicted by Israeli soldiers during a military operation in his village of Aboud, northwest of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. On December 9, 2022, amid heightened tensions and Israeli military raids in the area, Dia’ was shot by soldiers in circumstances that eyewitnesses described as violent and unprovoked. Following the shooting, he was left bleeding on the ground for an extended period as Israeli forces reportedly prevented Palestinian medical teams from reaching him to provide urgent care.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Dia’ Mohammad Shafiq Rimawi, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources