Al-ram: Israeli forces killed a Palestinian worker and wounded another Tuesday evening in the town of al-Ram in the central West Bank while they were attempting to cross a separation wall into occupied East Jerusalem. The incident underscores the ongoing tensions and violence in the region.

According to Anadolu Agency, the Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that its crews transferred the body of a 47-year-old man to a hospital in Ramallah after he was shot in the head by Israeli forces during the attempt to cross the separation wall in al-Ram, north of East Jerusalem. Another Palestinian worker was also transported to the hospital from the same area after being shot in the foot while trying to cross the wall.

Palestinians face near-daily shootings along the separation wall surrounding East Jerusalem and the boundary between the West Bank and Israel as they attempt to cross in search of work inside the city or in Israel, which occupies Palestinian territory. More than 50 Palestinian workers have been killed and over 38,000 arrested between October 2023 and May 1 this year, according to figures from the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions.

The situation has been exacerbated since the start of the Gaza war, with Israel barring Palestinian workers from returning to their jobs, leading some to take the risk of climbing the separation wall. East Jerusalem is surrounded by a wall made largely of concrete and barbed wire, most of it built on West Bank land. The wall stands more than 8 meters (26 feet) high and stretches roughly 202 kilometers (125 miles), as reported by the Israeli rights group B’Tselem.

While Israel claims the barrier was built for security reasons, Palestinians and the UN argue it is part of a plan to annex Palestinian land to Israel. In 2004, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion declaring the wall illegal because it was constructed on occupied Palestinian territory.