Palestine to sue Israel at ICC for killing teen at West Bank protest

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates says it is going to sue the Tel Aviv regime at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the fatal shooting of a teenager during clashes with the Israeli army on the sidelines of a protest in the occupied West Bank.

The ministry, in a statement released on Friday evening, called upon the ICC to undertake an immediate investigation into Israel’s crimes and to ultimately hold Israeli war criminals to account.

It held Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration fully and directly responsible for the murder of thirteen-year-old Ali Ayman Nasr Abou Aliya, stating that the crime reflects the nature of instructions that the Israeli regime gives its military forces.

“Such instructions make it easy for them to shoot Palestinian citizens without any fear of punishment,” the statement pointed out.

Moreover, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's office issued a statement, condemning the “cold-blooded murder” of the Palestinian minor and describing it as the latest episode in Israel’s crimes against Palestinian people.

Israeli forces attack Palestinian protesters in West Bank, kill minor

Israeli forces attack Palestinians taking part in protests against Israeli settlement construction in several areas across the West Bank, killing a minor and leaving dozens of protesters injured.

Abbas then urged the international community to protect the Palestinian nation, end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, and help establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

Hamas, Islamic Jihad denounce Palestinian teen killing

Separately, Hamas resistance movement denounced the killing of the Palestinian minor, stating that the incident marks a new crime by the Israeli regime against humanity.

Hamas urged the international community to hold Israeli authorities to account at the ICC for such appalling atrocities.

“The killing of Abou Aliya reflects the terrorism being exercised by Israelis at all levels. It also shows how horrible and faulty the latest normalization deals by some Arab countries with Israel are.”

“Additionally, it reveals that the Palestinian Authority has made a terrible mistake to restore ties with the occupying Israeli regime, and re-launch security collaboration with it,” the movement stated.

Hamas highlighted that resistance against Israel is the only viable way in the face of the regime’s attacks and settler assaults across the West Bank.

Islamic Jihad, another Gaza-based resistance movement, also decried the “heinous crime” of killing Palestinian teenager Abou Aliya, stating it reflects the policy of oppression and execution that Israeli forces employ against Palestinian people.

“There is no way but to mount greater resistance and stage a popular uprising to deter the occupying regime and protect our people and land,” it said in a statement, stressing that the Palestinian minor’s death shows the failure of recent normalization agreements and that the death have provided a cover for Israel to press ahead with its crimes and acts of terror.

Earlier in the day, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement that Abou Aliya “succumbed to his wounds after he was shot with live rounds in the stomach” during clashes north of Ramallah.

UN calls for probe into Israel’s use of lethal force against children

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for a transparent investigation into the use of lethal force by Israeli troops against Palestinian children.

He had been taken in critical condition for treatment at a hospital in Ramallah where he later died, the ministry said.

Marzouq Abu Naeem, a member of the local council, said the Palestinian teenager was involved in a weekly protest against illegal Israeli settlement expansion activities at al-Mughayyir village, which has been the site of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the past.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.

The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories in several resolutions.

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