• 26-year-old construction worker shot dead while trying to cross ‘illegally built’ separation wall
• Settlers raise Israeli flags near Dome of the Rock
• Jordan condemns Al-Aqsa raid as ‘provocative, reckless’

SALEM: Tensions in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank flared on Sunday as Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian worker allegedly trying to cross the separation barrier for work, while Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque under police protection and rai­sed Israeli flags near the Dome of the Rock.

The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah identified the man as Imad Haroun Ashtiyeh, 26, saying he was killed by Israeli gunfire near the town of Al-Ram, north of Jerusalem.

Ashtiyeh, a construction worker from the village of Salem near Nablus, had attempted to climb the barrier at Al-Ram along with a few other men to make his way to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv for work, said Omer, a relative who gave only his first name.

“But then he was shot while attempting to climb over,” Omer said.

An AFP journalist saw Ashtiyeh’s corpse shrouded in a Palestinian flag at the Ramallah medical complex, his relatives weeping over his body.

The Palestinian Authority’s press office wrote on X that “Israeli occupation forces killed a Palestinian man seeking work while crossing the annexation and apartheid wall”.

Al-Ram, located near the Qalandiya checkpoint, is separated from Jerusalem by a section of the barrier reinforced with barbed wire.

The Israeli military and police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israeli security officials claim that a significant number of Palestinians from the West Bank attempt to enter Israel, often by climbing over the barrier.

They are driven largely by economic hardship and the loss of work permits since the October 2023 attacks, Palestinian officials say.

Most of them are arrested, while some have died or been injured fleeing from Israeli forces, Palestinian officials say.

Ashtiyeh is the fifth Palestinian killed trying to cross into Israel this year, and the 52nd since Oct 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions.

Israel began building the barrier at the height of the second Palestinian intifada that erupted in 2002, claiming that it was needed to maintain security amid suicide bombings in Jerusalem and other Israeli cities.

The barrier cuts into many parts of the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967 and is a land grab illegal under international law.

Israel maintains tight restrictions on the movement of the West Bank’s roughly three million residents, who require special permits to cross checkpoints into east Jerusalem and Israel.

Violence has sharply escalated in the Palestinian territory since the Gaza war began.

At least 1,075 Palestinians — both militants and civilians — have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since October 2023, according to AFP figures based on Palestinian health ministry data.

In the same period, at least 46 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed in attacks or military operations in the West Bank, Israeli official figures show.

Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa

A group of Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday and raised Israeli flags on the steps leading to the Dome of the Rock, chanting and singing the Israeli national anthem under the protection of the police, Arab News reported.

They entered the compound from Al-Maghrabah Gate, which is fully controlled by Israeli authorities.

Jordan condemned the “provocative and reckless” storming of the mosque. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed Jordan’s absolute rejection and strong condemnation of the continued incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli settlers, the Petra news agency reported.

Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest site, has witnessed frequent clashes — including Israeli settler raids and restrictions on Muslim worshippers — since East Jerusalem was occupied in June 1967.

The mosque is administered by Jordan’s Ministry of Awqaf, which holds the legal authority to manage the compound and control access.

Jordan cautioned against settlers’ efforts to create a new reality that would temporally and spatially divide the landmark.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2026