Published on 6/25/2026
The family of the young Palestinian man, Mustafa Taha Al-Khatib, recounted the details of his execution by Israeli occupation forces after storming his house in the town of Sarta, west of Salfit, in the northern occupied West Bank.
Yassin Al-Khatib, Mustafa’s uncle, told Anadolu Agency that the family woke up at dawn on Thursday to the occupation forces storming the town, before heading to the house where his nephew was staying.
He added that Mustafa called him and informed him of the presence of Israeli forces in the town, noting that he climbed to the roof of his house and saw the occupation soldiers stationed at the entrance leading to Mustafa’s residence.
He said that ambulance crews arrived at the scene after informing the Palestinian Liaison Agency (an official body charged with field coordination with the Israeli side) of the presence of an injury.
But the Israeli army – according to Mustafa’s uncle – prevented the ambulance from entering and evacuated the area around the house, then its forces remained at the site for approximately two hours after Mustafa was injured.
The scene did not stop there, as the Israeli occupation forces arrested the martyr’s relatives two hours after the shooting incident, after which the ambulance was allowed to enter, according to Yassin.
He explained that he was one of the first to arrive at the house after the Israeli occupation army withdrew, adding that I entered behind the ambulance, but the paramedics asked us to stay outside, and after that we learned that Mustafa had been martyred.
They didn’t give him time to open the door
Al-Khatib revealed the details of what he saw inside the house, saying that the effects of the intrusion were clear on the doors and the contents of the room, pointing out that the occupation forces removed the door and destroyed the contents of the place.
He continued, saying: “They forcefully entered the house, and did not give him time to open the door or even get dressed. They entered directly into the room he was in and shot him.”
The martyr’s uncle added that his nephew, Mustafa, had been residing in the place for years and working in agriculture and construction. About four years ago, he built a room and a kitchen on his land, and he worked to cultivate and take care of it. He did not have any problems with anyone, and he was not known for any previous activity or prosecution.
He added: “In my opinion, there was no execution without any justification. They were talking about the presence of a knife or an ax in the place, but these were work tools that he had due to his work in construction, and they were present like any other tools related to the profession.”
72 martyrs
In this context, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the number of Palestinian martyrs as a result of the Israeli escalation in the occupied West Bank had risen to 72 since the beginning of this year.
The ministry said in a statement: “The martyrdom of the young man, Mustafa Taha Al-Khatib (32 years old), at dawn today, by occupation bullets in Salfit, raises the number of martyrs since the beginning of this year until Thursday morning to 72 martyrs, including 17 children, 5 women, and two elderly people.”
In turn, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said, on Thursday, that Israeli army forces executed two Palestinians during two arrest operations carried out in the Jenin and Salfit governorates in the northern occupied West Bank since yesterday, Wednesday.
The club explained in a statement that the two dead were Muhammad Nazem Zayed (29 years old) from the town of Al-Yamoun, west of Jenin, who was killed on Wednesday, and Mustafa Taha Al-Khatib, from the town of Sarta, west of Salfit, who was killed on Thursday.
He added that an Israeli army force surrounded a house in the town of Al-Yamoun, before shooting Zayed and seizing his body. The forces also shot Al-Khatib during their storming of his house in Salfit, and kept his body inside the house after carrying out raids and vandalism inside it.
The Prisoners’ Club considered that what happened represented an extension of the policy of field executions pursued by the Israeli occupation forces, noting the escalation of killings during raids and arrests since the start of the war of genocide on the Gaza Strip.
He added that field executions have become a consistent approach and a central tool in the Israeli army’s dealings with the Palestinians, noting that the occupation has turned arrest operations into an arena for field executions.
He pointed out that Israel’s efforts to pass legislation related to the execution of Palestinian prisoners reflect a trend towards legitimizing killing.
Daily intrusions
On an almost daily basis, the Israeli army carries out incursions into cities and towns in the West Bank, including arrests, field investigations, and home raids.
On June 12, the United Nations expressed its regret at the intensification of Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank at a record pace.
The United Nations has documented more than a thousand attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the year 2026, confirming the occurrence of casualties and property damage as a result of this violence.
Since October 8, 2023, attacks by the Israeli army and settlers in the West Bank have resulted in the death of more than 1,173 Palestinians, the injury of 12,666, and the arrest of about 23,000, according to official Palestinian data.
The attacks also include sabotage and demolition of homes and facilities, bulldozing agricultural land, preventing farmers from accessing their lands, displacing citizens from their homes, and settlement expansion in the occupied territories.
The Palestinians warn that these attacks pave the way for Israel to officially announce the annexation of the West Bank, which means ending the possibility of establishing the State of Palestine stipulated in United Nations resolutions.
In 1948, Israel was established on lands occupied by armed Zionist gangs that committed massacres and displaced at least 750,000 Palestinians. Then Tel Aviv occupied the rest of their lands, and still refuses to withdraw from them and establish a Palestinian state.
