Here are the names and faces of 35 Palestinians killed in January

A total of 35 Palestinians were killed by Israelis in January, making it the deadliest month for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since 2015.

Six of the fatalities were under the age of 18, with the youngest being 14-year-old Omar Lotfi Khumour. The victims also included 60-year-old Majda Abdel Fattah Obaid, who was reportedly shot dead while reading the Quran inside her home. 

The vast majority were shot dead by Israeli troops, while three were killed by settlers. 

More than half of those killed were in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, which, along with Nablus, has been the focus of near-nightly search-and-arrest operations by Israeli forces since last year. 

Israeli violence in the West Bank has been getting more deadly and frequent, prompting a rise in armed Palestinian resistance. 

According to data compiled by Middle East Eye, Israeli forces killed more Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in 2022 than in any single calendar year since the Second Intifada. 

The January death toll includes unarmed civilians and armed fighters.

These are the names and faces of all those killed in January:

Mohammed Samar Hoshiyeh, 22

Fouad Mohammed Abed, 17

Mohammed Samar Hoshiyeh, 22, and Fouad Mohammed Abed, 17, were the first Palestinian deaths in 2023. 

The two were shot dead on 2 January after Israeli troops raided the village of Kafr Dan, west of Jenin, to carry out a home demolition.

Palestinian factions mourned their deaths and referred to them as fighters, though it was not clear if they were armed when they were killed. 

Adam Essam Ayyad, 15

Adam Essam Ayyad, 15, was shot by Israeli forces in the chest with a live bullet on 3 January. 

An early morning Israeli raid on Dheisheh refugee camp, south of Bethlehem, was met by groups of local youths, reportedly including Ayyad, who confronted soldiers with rocks. 

Middle East Eye was told by a resident that Ayyad was from a low-income family and worked at a camp bakery. 

He was deeply impacted by the killing one month earlier of his friend and fellow baker Omar Manah, which prompted Ayyad to confront the raiding soldiers.

Amer Abu Zeitoun, 16

Israeli troops killed another Palestinian minor on 5 January, shooting Amer Abu Zeitoun, 16, in the head. 

The killing took place as soldiers were confronted by residents during a raid on the Balata refugee camp in Nablus.

Ahmad Abu Junaid, 21

Ahmad Abu Junaid, 21, was also killed at the Balata camp in Nablus, after being shot in the head during an Israeli army raid on 11 January. 

The Nablus-based Lions' Den armed group said that Junaid belonged to the “Batala Brigade”. 

Sanad Mohammad Samasra, 19

On 12 January, Sanad Mohammad Samasra, 19, was shot dead by an Israeli settler after allegedly attempting to stab him. 

The settler was moderately wounded near an illegal settlement outpost in Hebron, according to Israeli medics. 

Samir Awni Harbi Aslan, 41

The Israeli army killed a third Palestinian in less than 24 hours when Samir Awni Harbi Aslan, 41, was shot in the chest at Qalandia refugee camp on the outskirts of occupied East Jerusalem. 

Aslan was unarmed and attempting to protect his son from being arrested by Israeli troops, eyewitnesses told Palestinian media. 

Habeeb Kameel, 25

Abdel Hadi Nazal, 18

Two Palestinians were killed during an Israeli army raid on the village of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, on 12 January. 

Habeeb Kameel, 25, was shot in the head, while Abdel Hadi Nazal, 18, was shot in the neck and chest. 

Izz Eddin Basem Hamamreh, 24

Amjad Adnan Khalilieh, 23

Yazan Samer al-Jaabari, 19

Two Palestinians, Izz Eddin Basem Hamamreh, 24, and Amjad Adnan Khalilieh, 23, were shot in their vehicle near the village of Jabba, south of Jenin on 14 January.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) said the two were members of al-Quds Brigades, its armed wing. 

Yazan Samer al-Jaabari, 19, also died in Jenin on the same day, from gunshot wounds sustained during a home demolition on 2 January that killed two others. 

Ahmed Abdel-Jalil Kahla, 45

Ahmed Abdel-Jalil Kahla, 45, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers manning a temporary checkpoint at the entrance to Silwad, a town in Ramallah, on 15 January. 

He was shot in the neck after being forced to leave his car following a verbal altercation.

Eyewitnesses said Kahla was driving with his 18-year-old son Qusai to their construction jobs before they were stopped. 

The Israeli army initially claimed Kahla waved a knife at the troops, before changing its statement to say a “suspicious vehicle refused to stop for a routine inspection” and that the passenger was shot after attempting to seize a soldier’s weapon. Eyewitnesses denied these claims. 

Omar Lotfi Khumour, 14

Omar Lotfi Khumour, 14, was killed by Israeli forces near Bethlehem on 16 January. 

He was shot in the head during a raid on homes in the Dheisheh refugee camp and succumbed to his wounds in hospital. 

Hamdi Shaker Abu Dayyeh, 40

On 17 January, Hamdi Shaker Abu Dayyeh, 40, was shot dead after allegedly opening fire on Israeli troops in the north of Hebron. 

Abu Dayyeh shot at soldiers using an improvised submachine gun near an entrance to the town of Halhul, according to the Israeli army radio station. 

He was later shot and killed, and Israeli troops reportedly prevented medics from reaching him. 

Palestinian media reported at the time that Abu Dayyeh was a member of the Palestinian Authority security forces. There were no reports of Israeli casualties.

Jawad Farid Bawaqta, 57

Adham Mohammad Jabarin, 28

Two Palestinians were killed on 19 January during an overnight raid on Jenin.

Adham Mohammad Jabarin, 28, a senior member of the Jenin Brigades armed group, was shot in the torso during a heavy exchange of gunfire. 

Jawad Farid Bawaqta, 57, a high school teacher and father of six children, was shot in the torso by a sniper outside his home while providing first aid to Jabarin. Both men were from Jenin refugee camp. 

Tariq Odah Yoused Maali, 42

Tariq Odah Yoused Maali, 42, was shot dead by an Israeli settler on 21 January. 

Israel’s army alleged that Maali attempted to stab an Israeli settler at Sde Efraim farm, an illegal settler outpost on a farm near Ramallah. 

CCTV footage showed a man entering the farm and being shot dead soon afterwards. No Israelis were harmed.  

Aref Abdel Nasser Lahloul, 20 

Aref Abdel Nasser Lahlouh, 20, was killed in front of his mother and brother on 25 January in the occupied West Bank city of Qalqilya. 

According to the Israeli military, Lahloul was shot after attempting a knife attack against a soldier. No Israelis were reported to be injured. 

Mohammed Ali, 17 

Later on 25 January, Mohammed Ali, 17, was also killed by Israeli forces. 

He was shot in the chest in occupied East Jerusalem after an Israeli raid on the Shuafat refugee camp. 

Online footage showed young Palestinians throwing stones at Israeli vehicles and soldiers responding with live fire.

Mohamed Sami Ghonaim, 28

Saib Issam Mahmoud Izriqi, 25

Magda Abdel Fattah Obaid, 60

Mohammad Mahmoud Sobh, 34

Nour el-Din Sami Ghonaim, 22

Waseem Amjad al-Jaas, 22

Motasem Mahmoud Abu al-Hasan, 40

Abdallah Marwan al-Ghoul, 18

Izz Eddin Yassin Salahat, 22

Omar Tariq Ali Al-Saadi, 24

Ten Palestinians were killed in Jenin refugee camp on 26 January, in one of the deadliest Israeli raids on the occupied West Bank in recent years. 

Magda Abdel Fattah Obaid, 60, was inside her home when she was shot in the head and neck during the raid. She was an unarmed civilian. 

Mohamed Sami Ghonaim, 28, Saib Issam Mahmoud Izriqi, 25, Mohammad Mahmoud Sobh, 34, Nour el-Din Sami Ghonaim, 22, Waseem Amjad al-Jaas, 22, Motasem Mahmoud Abu al-Hasan, 40, Abdallah Marwan al-Ghoul, 18, and Izz Eddin Yassin Salahat, 18, were all killed during the raid. 

Omar Tariq Ali Al-Saadi, 24, who was also shot during the raid, succumbed to his wounds three days later. 

Heavily armed soldiers entered the camp, reportedly disguised in a commercial truck, targeting a building used as a meeting place for residents. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described the killings as “massacres against our people in full view of the world”. A general strike and three days of mourning were called by the PA after the raid. 

Youssef Yahya Muhaisen, 22

Following the Jenin raid, Israeli forces in the town of al-Ram, north of Jerusalem, fired at Palestinians who had come out to protest against the killings. 

Youssef Yahya Abdul Karim Muhaisen, 22, who was unarmed, was fatally shot in the abdomen during the demonstrations. 

Wadi Abu Ramouz, 16

Wadi Abu Ramouz, 16, died on 27 January after being shot two days earlier during an Israeli raid on the town of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem. 

The unarmed Palestinian youth was shot in the abdomen, and succumbed to his wounds in hospital. 

Khairy Alqam, 21

Khairy Alqam, 21, shot and killed seven people outside a building used as a synagogue in the settlement of Neve Yaakov in East Jerusalem. 

He fled the scene but was caught by Israeli police, who killed him after an exchange of fire. 

Alqam’s grandfather, who he is named after, was murdered by an Israeli settler in 1998. 

Haim Ferelman, who killed 51-year-old Khairy Alqam and three other Palestinian men, was later acquitted of the crime and released on house arrest by an Israeli magistrates court in 2010. 

Karam Ali Salman, 18

An armed Israeli settler killed Karam Ali Salman, 18, in the West Bank province of Qalqilya on 29 January. 

He was fatally shot by the settler in “unclear circumstances”, according to Palestinian security sources. 

Israel’s army claimed that a “civilian security team” shot a person “armed with a handgun” near the Kedumim settlement, north of the West Bank. 

Nassim Abou Fouda, 26

Nassim Abou Fouda, 26, was shot dead by Israeli forces in Hebron on 30 January.

Fouda had been driving a vehicle in central Hebron, near the Ibrahim Mosque, when Israeli troops at a military checkpoint opened fire on him. 

The Israeli army claimed that he had rammed into the leg of a soldier and then attempted to flee the scene, which is when "hits were identified".