Ismael Jamal at-Tubasi
He was Shot in the head by armed Israeli settlers.
On May 14, 2021, while violence escalated across the West Bank, a group of heavily armed Israeli settlers launched an attack in ar-Reehiyya village, south of Hebron. During this assault, Ismael Jamal at-Tubasi was shot with a live round to the head. The injury was instantly fatal, and he succumbed to his wounds at the scene. His killing was one of multiple fatalities that day, as Israeli soldiers and settlers together killed nine Palestinians in different areas of the West Bank, leaving more than five hundred others wounded.
Biography
Ismael Jamal at-Tubasi, 23, was a young Palestinian from ar-Reehiyya village, south of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank. On May 14, 2021, during a day of widespread violence, he was shot and killed by armed Israeli settlers, who targeted him with live fire. He was struck in the head and died instantly. His killing occurred amid mass protests across the West Bank against the Israeli escalation in Gaza and ongoing violations in Jerusalem, during which nine Palestinians were killed and over five hundred injured. Ismael’s death is one of many that reflects the vulnerability of Palestinians facing both military and settler violence under occupation.
Ismael Jamal at-Tubasi was a 23-year-old Palestinian resident of ar-Reehiyya, a small village south of Hebron in the southern West Bank. Like many young Palestinians, he lived under the constant presence of military occupation and the growing threat of Israeli settler violence in his region. On May 14, 2021, one of the deadliest days of that escalation, Palestinians across the West Bank took to the streets to protest the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza and the systematic attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
In ar-Reehiyya, Ismael became the target of armed Israeli settlers, described by witnesses as paramilitary colonizers, who attacked Palestinians with live fire. During this assault, Ismael was shot in the head, sustaining fatal injuries. He died shortly afterward, joining the nine Palestinians killed across the West Bank that day, alongside hundreds who were wounded.
Ismael’s killing highlighted the deadly role of settlers, who often carry out armed attacks under the protection of Israeli forces.
Pleas of Surviving Relatives and Family if any
The family of Ismael Jamal at-Tubasi expressed their deep grief and outrage after his killing by armed settlers in their village of ar-Reehiyya. His parents said that Ismael was a young man full of life and dreams, who had harmed no one and whose only “crime” was living on his own land under occupation. His mother wept as she said, “They took my son with one bullet to the head. He was only 23, just beginning his life. What danger could he have been to them? The settlers come armed and protected, and we are left to bury our children.”
Relatives pleaded for international protection, condemning the impunity given to armed settlers who, they said, attack their villages with the support of Israeli forces. His father stated, “Ismael was not carrying a weapon. He was not fighting. He was targeted simply because he was Palestinian. The world must see what is happening to our sons and daughters. We do not want more mothers to bury their children.”
Sources & References
Ismael Jamal at-Tubasi, 23, was killed by Israeli colonists in the ar-Reehiyya village, south of the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Media sources said the Israeli paramilitary colonizers shot the young man with a live round in the head. On that day, Israeli soldiers killed nine Palestinians and injured dozens, in several parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry. The Health Ministry added that more than five hundred Palestinians have been injured.1 israelpalestinetimeline.org Open source