Udai Tamimi was shot and murdered late on Wednesday after firing at Israelis near a settlement. Tamimi had been on the run since since military policewoman Noa Lazar was assassinated at a checkpoint in Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem earlier this month.
The Palestinian health ministry also declared that Mohammad Fadi Nuri, 16, passed away from a gunshot wound received during skirmishes with Israeli police close to Ramallah last month, despite the West Bank being virtually locked down.
Abed al-Latif Omar Omar, a Tulkarem, West Bank, resident, told AFP that the strike was meant to send “a message” of support for Tamimi.
The West Bank communities of Bethlehem and Nablus, as well as Jerusalem’s Old City, both had businesses that had closed their doors.
As a result of nearly daily West Bank raids by Israeli forces and an increase in attacks on troops, violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has risen in recent months.
The United Nations reports that since the year’s beginning, more than 100 Palestinian fighters and civilians have died, representing the highest death toll in the West Bank in almost seven years.
Tamimi, who opened fire at the gate to Maale Adumim, one of the biggest Jewish communities in the West Bank, was shot and killed by a security officer after injuring another, according to Israeli police.
The security officers were congratulated by Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid “for neutralising the terrorist” who is accused of murdering Lazar, 18, at the gate to the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem.
Tamimi’s 10-day manhunt has led to conflicts between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians, closing of the camp’s schools, hospitals, and other facilities, and the displacement of thousands of people.
He gained folk hero status among certain Palestinians while he was hiding out, especially young men who shaved their hair to resemble him.
