Yahia Ali Adwan

Their life

Yahia Ali Adwan, 27, was a Palestinian resident of Azzoun, a town under frequent Israeli military raids in the Qalqilia governorate of the northern occupied West Bank. He was a former political prisoner who spent seven and a half years in Israeli detention since his first arrest at age 15. Yahia was killed on April 30, 2022, when Israeli forces shot him during a military invasion into his town.

Yahia’s life was marked by the deep psychological and physical toll of the Israeli occupation. He was first imprisoned at just 15 years old, beginning a cycle of detentions and releases that continued over the years. He was incarcerated multiple times — in 2010 (10 months), 2013–2016 (41 months), 2019 (16 months), and twice more in 2021, totaling more than seven years in Israeli prisons. His brother is also held at the Negev Detention Camp, underscoring the ongoing targeting of his family.

He lived in Azzoun, a town subjected to frequent Israeli army invasions, home raids, and arbitrary arrests. On the night of April 30, 2022, during yet another military incursion, Yahia joined the protest that followed. He was shot through the chest with live ammunition and died shortly after. His story reflects the tragic reality of Palestinian youth who grow up under military occupation, experiencing systemic imprisonment, violence, and premature death.

How they died

Yahia Ali Adwan was killed by an Israeli live bullet that pierced his heart and exited through his back. He was shot during an Israeli military invasion of Azzoun, east of Qalqilia, amid widespread protests and clashes sparked by the raid. Medical efforts to save him failed, and he was pronounced dead at Darwish Nazzal Hospital.

On April 30, 2022, Yahia Ali Adwan was killed after being shot by Israeli soldiers during a large-scale military raid on Azzoun, a town east of Qalqilia in the northern West Bank. As the army stormed the town with dozens of military vehicles, local residents protested the incursion. In response, Israeli forces fired live rounds, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas canisters, and stun grenades into the crowd.

During the confrontation, Yahia was struck in the chest by a live bullet that penetrated his heart and exited through his back. According to medical staff at Darwish Nazzal Hospital in Qalqilia, the wound was fatal. Palestinian medics attempted to revive him at the scene and rushed him to the hospital, but he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

This raid was part of ongoing Israeli military operations in West Bank towns, particularly in Azzoun, which regularly experiences pre-dawn home invasions, arrests, and violent suppression of protests. Yahia’s death occurred in this broader context of routine occupation violence and militarized crackdowns on Palestinian civilian areas.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Yahia Ali Adwan, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources