Israeli forces kill Palestinian man inside his home north of Jerusalem

Israeli forces killed on Monday a Palestinian man at his home, during a military raid into the town of Kufr Aqab, north of Jerusalem.
 
The victim, 25-year-old Mohammad Shaham, was killed by a bullet in the head, according to his family, at the entrance of his family's apartment, on the second story of a residential building in Kufr Aqab.
 
"Israeli soldiers broke the door after midnight, Mohammad rushed out to see who it was," his weeping mother told The New Arab, as she was surrounded by grieving women at the family's apartment.

"They shot him right in the head, but he hadn't done anything," she repeatedly exclaimed amidst heavy sobbing. "They killed him and then they took him away."

Israeli occupation forces shot and killed Palestinian youth Mohammad Shaham inside his home after raiding it in Kafr Aqab neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/0iRSbyv8Ek

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) August 15, 2022

Israeli forces seized Shaham's body and dragged it out, leaving his blood stains on the stairs. The body continues to be withheld by Israeli forces.

"Mohammad was very close to me, he loved me and took care of me all the time," his 10-year-old sister, Rimas Shaham, told The New Arab. "I heard my father shouting that Mohammad was killed, and I heard the sound of the soldiers walking around."

"We stayed inside our room and didn't come out until my father came and took us to the neighbours' house because the army was searching the house when I saw Mohammad lying on the floor and bleeding," recalled the child, holding her brother's blood-stained shirt toward the press cameras.

  
Israeli media quoted the Israeli army saying that Shaham had attacked the soldiers, who were conducting a search raid, with a kitchen knife.
 
His father, Ibrahim Shaham, told Palestinian media earlier that Israeli soldiers broke the door and began to shoot as soon as they entered.

"Mohammad received a bullet in his forehead, then they [Israeli soldiers] left him bleeding on the floor for more than forty minutes," said the father.

The moment when Israeli occupation forces evacuated young Palestinian man Mohammad Shaham after shooting and killing him during raiding his home in Kafr Aqab town, north occupied Jerusalem, pre dawn today. pic.twitter.com/fQDevcizRJ

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) August 15, 2022

According to his father, Shaham used to work inside Israel and crossed the Israeli army checkpoint regularly. "If they wanted to arrest him they could do so," insisting that his son "had no political affiliation and didn't belong to any group".
 
The secretary of the PLO executive committee, Hussein AL-Sheikh, condemned the killing of Shaham, demanding an urgent international investigation into it. Several Palestinian factions also issued statements condemning Shaham's killing.

General strike is observed in the refugee camp of Qalandiya in mourning of the Palestinian youth Mohammad Shaham, who was shot dead by Israeli forces in cold blood in the town of Kafr Aqab, north of occupied Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/0diJSeWkmu

— Wafa News Agency - English (@WAFANewsEnglish) August 15, 2022

A general strike was declared by local associations in Kufr Aqab and the neighbouring Qalandia town and refugee camp, in mourning of Shaham.
 
Since the beginning of 2022, Israeli forces have killed 139 Palestinians, including 47 by airstrikes on the Gaza Strip last week.