Israeli troops fatally shot a Palestinian teenager during a raid on a refugee camp in the eastern part of occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the official Palestinian news agency WAFA that Israeli forces stormed Aqabat Jaber camp, situated three kilometers (1.8 miles) southwest of Ariha, on Saturday evening, and opened fire on two Palestinians, including 15-year-old Ahmed Ashraf Hmedat, while they were near a cemetery in the western flank of the camp.
Hmedat sustained critical gunshot wounds as a result, and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards. Another Palestinian teenage boy was also injured in the shootout.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) later announced in a statement that Israeli forces prevented its paramedic teams from reaching the scene and providing necessary medical assistance.
Israeli troops handed over Hmedat’s body to PRCS members about an hour later, while they took away the second Palestinian teenager. His health condition remains unclear.
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Since Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories on October 7 and Israel unleashed a genocidal war on the besieged Gaza Strip in response, casualties have also seen a spike in the West Bank as a result of intensified near-daily Israeli raids into its villages and cities.
More than 500 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or extremist Jewish settlers since the war began. According to the UN, 2023 was the deadliest year yet for Palestinians in the West Bank since the United Nations began keeping such records in 2005.
At least 36,439 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have also been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past nearly eight months.