Two Guards Shot at a Qalandia Gate After a Struggle for Weapons

Two men were shot and wounded by Israeli Border Police officers at a gate near the Qalandia crossing north of Jerusalem after a struggle in which, police said, officers were attacked and men tried to snatch their weapons. According to the Israel Police statement of 7 July 2026, the two men who were hit were later found to be employed as security guards, though they had not been identified as such at the time.

The statement said a team of Border Police officers travelling by vehicle to an operational assignment had arrived at a gate near the crossing that is designated for the passage of security forces only. Officers who noticed what was happening and identified a vehicle there approached it and tried to establish who was inside. At that point several people got out and attacked the officers with punches and chokeholds while trying to snatch their weapons. One officer fired into the air, but the attack did not stop. An officer who saw one of the men choking a colleague, and who felt his own life and those of his fellow officers were in real danger, then fired at the lower bodies of two of them. The officer who opened fire gave the wounded men first aid until medical teams arrived. Both sustained light injuries according to medical sources cited in the statement and were taken for treatment; several Border Police officers were also lightly hurt in the struggle. As is standard in such cases, the statement said, the circumstances are being investigated.

What Qalandia is

Qalandia is one of the main crossings between the West Bank and Jerusalem. It sits on Highway 60 a few kilometres south of Ramallah and north of the East Jerusalem neighbourhoods, built into the West Bank barrier. It was established in 2001, a few months into the second intifada, as temporary military infrastructure, became a permanent terminal by 2005 and was fitted with biometric sensors during a 2019 upgrade. Israel requires Palestinians to hold permits to pass through it for work, medical care, education or worship, and much of its daily traffic is East Jerusalem residents separated from the city by the barrier. The police statement describes a separate gate near the crossing, reserved for the passage of security forces.

Pressure at the crossings

The crossings have become flashpoints as the permit system has contracted. In February 2026 the Jerusalem Post reported the interception near Nebi Samuel, outside Jerusalem, of a vehicle carrying about 30 West Bank Palestinians who said they were trying to reach Ramadan prayers at the Temple Mount, along with the driver accused of bringing them; that operation took place on the first Friday of Ramadan, with thousands of police deployed across the city. Three months later Israel National News reported the arrest of 42 West Bank residents in a single operation against unauthorised entry in southern Israel.

The force involved

The Border Police, in Hebrew Magav, is the gendarmerie branch of the Israel Police and not part of the army, although its conscripts come through the ordinary military draft. The Institute for National Security Studies put its strength in 2023 at more than 7,000 serving personnel, about a quarter of the whole police force, and noted that in the West Bank its units operate under the Israeli army's Central Command while retaining a police chain of command elsewhere. Roughly a fifth of its personnel are deployed in Jerusalem.

What the statement did not say

The police did not say how many people were in the vehicle or took part in the struggle, did not give their ages, home towns or nationalities, and did not say whether anyone was arrested. It did not say who the two wounded men were working for, why they were at a gate reserved for the security forces, or what they have said about the encounter. It also did not say which body is conducting the investigation into the shooting, or how long it is expected to take.