Saif Hifthy Abu Libda
Saif Hifthy Abu Libda was shot and killed by undercover Israeli soldiers in a targeted ambush at Arraba junction on April 2, 2022. Israeli forces opened fire on his car without warning, preventing medical aid and seizing his body afterward.
Saif Abu Libda died as a result of a targeted Israeli military ambush carried out by undercover soldiers. The operation occurred at Arraba Junction, where Israeli forces fired a barrage of live bullets at a Palestinian vehicle occupied by Saif and two others—Khalil Mohammad Tawalba and Sa’eb Tayseer Abahra. According to eyewitness accounts, the soldiers pulled the wounded men from their car and shot them again at close range while they were on the ground, indicating a deliberate assassination rather than an arrest operation or a conventional exchange of fire. Medical aid was deliberately withheld by the Israeli military, as paramedics from the Palestinian Red Crescent were denied access for over two hours. The corpses were ultimately taken away in an Israeli ambulance, and the families were not allowed to recover the bodies. Israeli sources later alleged that the men were armed and involved in past or planned attacks, while Palestinian factions rejected the justification and framed the incident as a war crime and continuation of Israel’s policy of extrajudicial killings.
Biography
Saif Hifthy Abu Libda was a 25-year-old Palestinian from Nur Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarem in the West Bank. He was killed on April 2, 2022, along with two others, by undercover Israeli soldiers at Arraba junction, near Jenin. The soldiers opened fire on their car in what eyewitnesses and Palestinian sources described as a targeted assassination. Saif was a member of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad. His body was seized by Israeli forces, and medics were prevented from reaching him. The killing sparked widespread condemnation as part of Israel’s ongoing policy of extrajudicial killings.
Saif Hifthy Abu Libda was a 25-year-old Palestinian man from Nur Shams refugee camp, located east of Tulkarem in the northern occupied West Bank. On April 2, 2022, he was killed alongside two other Palestinians by undercover Israeli soldiers at the ‘Arraba junction, south of Jenin. According to eyewitnesses and Palestinian media, the Israeli forces surrounded the car the three men were in and opened fire without warning, in what was widely described as a targeted assassination. Saif and the others were left without medical assistance for more than two hours, as Israeli forces declared the area a closed military zone and prevented Palestinian medics from reaching the scene. The bodies of the slain men were seized by the Israeli army. The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, later confirmed that Saif and his two companions were fighters in the group, vowing continued resistance. Human rights groups and political movements across Palestine condemned the killings, describing them as part of Israel’s ongoing policy of extrajudicial executions, particularly notable as it occurred on the first day of Ramadan.
Additional Information
Sources & References
Saif Hifthy Abu Libda, 25, was killed by undercover Israeli soldiers who also killed two other Palestinians in the same attack at the ‘Arraba junction, south of the northern West Bank city ofJenin. The Palestinian TV said the undercover soldiers fired a barrage of live ammunition at a Palestinian car, killing the three young men and wounding others. The undercover Israeli soldiers surrounded the Palestinian car before opening fire at it, clearly indicating that the soldiers weren’t there to arrest anybody but to assassinate them.1 israelpalestinetimeline.org Open source