Israeli Forces Shoot Dead 14-Year-Old In West Bank, Palestinian Officials Say

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Israeli forces shot dead a 14-year-old in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said, with Israel saying it was responding to stone-throwing.

Moutaz Eyad Daghlas was killed in Burqa, northwest of Nablus, late on Monday, the Palestinian health ministry said.

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The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its teams treated two people with gunshot wounds and took them to hospital, but that Israeli forces blocked access to a third wounded person and detained three volunteer paramedics.

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The Israeli military, asked by AFP about the incident, said Tuesday it had acted to "thwart stone-hurling and terrorist attacks" in the area.

"The soldiers identified several terrorists who intended to hurl stones at a highway used by Israeli vehicles. This was in an area where stones have recently been hurled at Israeli vehicles," the military said.

"The soldiers responded by firing towards them in order to remove the threat."

Israeli forces have routinely opened live fire on Palestinians, including minors who throw stones in the West Bank, which Israel has controlled since 1967.

The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said Israeli forces killed at least 241 children or teenagers in the territory between the October 7, 2023, attack by Gaza-based Hamas and late June this year.

Violence has increased in recent weeks, especially in the run-up to Israel's October 27 election, before which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had sought to appeal to hardline settlers in the West Bank.

On October 23, Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near Hebron before being killed by Israeli forces, who later responded with a major operation in the flashpoint city.

Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,116 Palestinians, both civilians and militants, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian Authority figures.

Palestinian attacks or clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces have killed at least 51 Israelis during the same period, according to official Israeli figures.

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