Israeli troops fire at Palestinians protesting boy's killing, one dead

A Palestinian has been killed by Israeli troops who violently responded to protests during the funeral of a 12-year-old boy killed by Israeli soldiers in occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said.

"Shawkat Khalid Awad, 20, died of gunshot wounds to the head and stomach in Beit Ummar near the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank," the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Thursday. 

The Palestinian Red Crescent said it treated at least 12 people for gunshot wounds and tear gas inhalation.

READ MORE: Death of 2 Palestinian boys within days ‘underscores Israeli army impunity’

Series of killings by Israeli forces

Palestinians were protesting the killing of Mohammed al Alami who was killed by army while riding in a car with his father on Wednesday.

He was shot in the chest while travelling in a car with his father in Beit Ummar, near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Palestinians say.

On Thursday a procession followed the boy's body, draped in the flag of Fatah, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas's party, through the streets of Beit Ummar, where he was buried.

Israel said it launched an investigation into Wednesday’s deadly shooting. 

A military statement said that senior commanding officers and military police — which investigate suspected misconduct by troops — were also looking into the incident in Beit Ummar. 

It alleged that soldiers fired at a car that failed to stop at a checkpoint after they fired warning shots.

Alami was the second young Palestinian killed by Israeli troops in days, after 17-year-old Mohammed Munir al Tamimi was killed on Saturday after he suffered gunshot wounds the day before in the Palestinian village of Beita.

And late on Tuesday, a 41-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops, also near Beita.

READ MORE: IDF kills teen, injures hundreds of Palestinians during Beita protest

Israeli settlers storm Al Aqsa complex

Also on Thursday, scores of illegal Israeli settlers forced their way into the Al Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem, according to a Palestinian agency.

The Islamic Endowment Department in Jerusalem said in a statement that 88 settlers guarded by Israeli police broke into the flashpoint site.

Usually, Israeli settlers storm the complex every day in the morning and afternoon through its Al Mughrabi Gate, southwest of the mosque.

Israeli police began allowing the settler incursions in 2003, despite repeated condemnations from the Islamic Endowment Department.

Al Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. 

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, a move never recognised by the international community.

All Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank are regarded as illegal by most of the international community.

READ MORE: Is Israel on edge in the face of Palestinian resistance?