Mohammad Ahmad Herzallah

Their life

Mohammad Ahmad Hasan Herzallah, a 30-year-old Palestinian from Nablus in the occupied West Bank, succumbed to fatal injuries on November 23, 2022, four months after being shot in the head by Israeli forces during a military raid. His death marked another tragic loss in a year of escalating violence against Palestinians.

Early Life and Background
Born in 1992, Herzallah grew up in Nablus, a historic city frequently targeted by Israeli military operations. Little is publicly documented about his personal life, but like many Palestinians in the West Bank, he lived under military occupation, facing restrictions on movement, economic hardship, and the constant threat of violence.

The July 24, 2022 Shooting
On July 24, 2022, Israeli forces stormed the al-Yasmina neighborhood in Nablus’ Old City, killing two Palestinians—Abboud Sobeh (29) and Mohammad al-Azizi (22)—and injuring 19 others, including Herzallah. He sustained a critical head wound and was rushed into emergency surgery.

Four-Month Medical Struggle
Despite multiple surgeries in Nablus, his condition remained grave. He was later transferred to Beit Jala Hospital in Bethlehem and finally to Istishari Arab Hospital in Ramallah, where he died. His prolonged suffering underscored the devastating impact of gunshot injuries and the lack of adequate medical resources under occ

How they died

shot in the head by Israeli forces

Mohammad Ahmad Hasan Herzallah's tragic death resulted from the catastrophic medical complications of a severe traumatic brain injury caused by an Israeli soldier's gunshot wound to his head on July 24, 2022. The high-velocity projectile caused immediate, devastating damage - fracturing his skull, creating cerebral contusions, and triggering life-threatening bleeding around his brain (subdural hematoma). Despite emergency neurosurgery to relieve pressure on his brain and remove bone fragments, he never regained consciousness. Over the agonizing four months that followed, his body slowly succumbed to a cascade of medical complications stemming from the original injury. The gunshot's destruction of critical brain tissue led to swelling that compressed vital structures, while his immobility made him vulnerable to infections that eventually overwhelmed his system. Multiple surgeries, including a tracheostomy to help him breathe, could not reverse the neurological devastation. In his final weeks, he developed ventilator-associated pneumonia that progressed to sepsis - a systemic infection that caused his organs to progressively fail. The limited availability of specialized neurocritical care in occupied Palestinian territories, combined with restrictions on medical transfers between hospitals, ultimately constrained his chances of recovery. His death by refractory septic shock on November 23, 2022, represents both the immediate violence of occupation and its prolonged, insidious destruction of Palestinian life through constrained medical access and systemic barriers to adequate healthcare.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Mohammad Ahmad Herzallah, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources