Israeli forces kill 6 Palestinian youths in West Bank, including 13-year-old child

Israeli forces have killed six Palestinian youths, including a 13-year-old child, during attacks across the occupied West Bank as Gaza-based resistance groups launched a major operation against the regime.

According to a report by Palestinian Wafa news agency quoting the Health Ministry, 18-year-old Mahmoud Bassem Akhmis succumbed to his wounds after he was shot by Israeli forces in the town of Beit Ummar, north of the city of al-Khalil, also known as Hebron, on Saturday evening.

He was seriously injured during a violent raid by Israeli forces at the entrance to Beit Ummar and was later pronounced dead at hospital.

According to the director of al-Ahli Hospital in al-Khalil, another young man, identified as Youssef Nader Suleiman Idris (19 years old), also died as a result of the critical injury he sustained after he was shot by Israeli forces’ live bullets in the chest during a raid in the center of the city of al-Khalil.

'Operation al-Aqsa Storm': Palestinians capture Israeli base, kill soldiers

Palestinians have launched their biggest operation against Israel in years in a surprise offensive that combined fighters crossing the fence into Israeli occupied cities with a heavy barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip.

Before him, a 13-year-old Palestinian child, identified as Ahmed Abdel Nasser Rabi, succumbed to his critical injuries after being shot by Israeli forces’ live bullets in the abdomen during an attack in Qalqilyah.

Another young man, identified as Amr Youssef Ibrahim Abed, from the town of Beitunia west of Ramallah, died as a result of a critical injury to the head during confrontations with the regime's forces at the northern entrance to al-Bireh.

The report added that 22-year-old Karam Nasser al-Aidi also died as a result of his critical head injury sustained during an Israeli raid at the northern entrance to the city of Jericho, also known as Ariha.

And finally, the sixth Palestinian youth was identified as Muhammad Awad Jarboua (24 years old), who died from critical wounds sustained during an Israeli raid near the village of al-Laban al-Gharbi, west of the city of Ramallah.

More than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces so far this year across the occupied territories, most of them in the West Bank.

The United Nations has described 2023 as the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since it began keeping track of fatalities almost two decades ago.

Israeli troops, settlers kill four Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Israeli settlers, backed by the regime’s forces, killed another Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, bringing to four the number of those killed in just 24 hours.

Saturday's fatalities came amid Operation al-Aqsa Storm, the biggest to be carried out by Palestinian resistance groups against the occupying regime in years, which began earlier in the day.

It has featured heavy rocket barrages and surprise attacks by resistance fighters against Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied territories. So far, around 300 Israelis have died as a result of the operation and thousands of others have been injured, hundreds of them critically.

Resistance leaders have described the operation as a decisive answer to the Israeli regime's unabated campaign of bloodshed and destruction against Palestinians.

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