Israeli forces kill Palestinian convert to Judaism in West Bank

Israeli gunfire killed a Palestinian convert to Judaism in the occupied West Bank, a spokesman said. The Israeli army said it killed a “suspect” in the same area, without disclosing an identity.

“This morning, the life of David Ben Avraham, a convert, ended tragically,” Noam Arnon, spokesman for the Jewish community in the West Bank town of Hebron, said on local news website Aroutz 7.

Sameh Zaitoun, 62, converted to Judaism in 2020 and took the Hebrew name David Ben Avraham, said Arnon, who was a friend. Arnon said that “soldiers found him suspicious and shot him” at the Elazar junction, between Hebron and Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank. “He died from his wounds,” he added.

The Israeli military said “soldiers fired shots toward a Palestinian who aroused their suspicion at the Elazar Junction.” The Palestinian, whose identity the army did not disclose, then died from his wounds, and military police opened an investigation into the incident, the statement added.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sameh Zaitoun said in media in the past that he had been arrested by the Palestinian Authority because of his conversion.

At least 444 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers across the West Bank since the war in Gaza started on October 7, according to the Palestinian health ministry. This includes at least eight killed from Wednesday to Thursday, aside from Zaitoun.

At least 17 Israeli soldiers and civilians died in attacks over the same time period, Israeli authorities said.