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Israeli troops kill West Bank boy, Palestine seeks probe

Fourteen-year-old Mohammed Shehade was shot dead by Israeli forces in Al Khader village in the Bethlehem area, says Palestine's Health Ministry.

AFP

Two other teenagers have been killed over the past 10 days in the occupied West Bank by Israeli troops.

Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank have killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy, Palestine's Health Ministry said, while the Israeli military accused the teenager of throwing Molotov cocktails.

"Mohammed Shehade, 14, was killed by Israeli forces' gunfire in Al Khader" village in the Bethlehem area, a ministry statement said on Tuesday, urging an international investigation of Israel.

The Israeli military said its troops provided first aid but the suspect died.

Two other teenagers have been killed over the past 10 days in the occupied West Bank, where deadly incidents are common, often during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops.

The latest killing comes one week after Israeli troops killed another teenage Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, both sides said, during what witnesses described as a confrontation between protesters and Israeli troops.

Residents in the community of Nabi Saleh, northwest of Ramallah, identified the victim as Nehad Bargouthi, 19.

His killing came less than two days after a teenager was killed by the Israeli military near the flashpoint West Bank town of Jenin.

Mohammed Abu Salah, 17, was shot during clashes that erupted as Israeli forces were destroying the home of a Palestinian they accused of carrying out the December killing of an illegal Jewish settler in the occupied West Bank.

Illegal Israeli settlers

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967.

Since then, about 475,000 Jewish settlers have moved into the territory, living in communities considered illegal under international law, alongside nearly 2.9 million Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is the former head of a settler lobbying council who opposes Palestinian statehood.

He has ruled out any formal peace talks with Palestinians during his tenure, but said he will work to improve economic conditions in the occupied West Bank, parts of which the Palestinian Authority has civilian control over.

Ties between the Authority, led by Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, and Israel remain fraught. There have, however, been signs of a thaw in recent months following a series of high-level meetings, including Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz hosting Abbas at his home.

SOURCE: AFP