News / Palestine

Israeli forces kill Palestinian teenager in West Bank

Sunday, 21 February 2016 11:12 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 21 February 2016 11:11 AM ]

Mourners carry the body of Abed Hamed, a 20-year-old Palestinian shot dead by Israeli forces, during his funeral in the occupied West Bank village of Silwad on February 20, 2016. ©AFP

Israeli military forces have fatally shot a young Palestinian man and critically injured another after they allegedly sought to carry out separate stabbing attacks in the occupied West Bank.

According to Palestinian media reports, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian youth in the town of Beita, located 13 kilometers (8.1 miles) southeast of Nablus, on Sunday, when the latter purportedly headed towards the troopers carrying a knife, Arabic-language Ma’an news agency reported.

Israeli soldiers, in return, fired more than a dozen shots at the Palestinian teenager, severely wounding him. The teenager succumbed to his grave injuries shortly afterwards. There were no reports of injuries among Israeli troopers.

Separately, Israeli forces arrested an unnamed 14-year-old Palestinian boy in the town of Bani Na’im, located 8 kilometers (5.0 miles) east of al-Khalil (Hebron), after shooting and injuring him in an alleged stabbing attack which moderately injured an Israeli soldier.

An Israeli soldier fires a tear gas canister towards Palestinian protesters during clashes in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem on February 19, 2016. ©AFP

The occupied Palestinian territories have been the scene of heightened tensions. The latest wave of tensions was triggered by Israel’s imposition in August 2015 of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.

The restrictions have enraged Palestinians, who are also angry at increasing violence by Israeli settlers frequently storming the al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Palestinians say the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status quo of the compound.

More than 180 Palestinians, including children and women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of last October.

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