14-year-old Palestinian killed during Israeli military operation in West Bank
PA health ministry says teenager fatally shot during clashes in Qalqilya; IDF says investigating after troops fire in air, use riot control means
A Palestinian teenager was shot to death during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank early Thursday morning, Palestinian health officials said.
The 14-year-old was killed during overnight clashes in the city of Qalqilya, the Palestinian Authority health ministry said, naming the boy as Faris Abu Samra.
The teenager was critically injured during the confrontation and rushed to a hospital in the city, where he was declared dead, the ministry said.
Palestinian media reports said the Israeli troops were operating in the al-Nakar neighborhood in the western part of the city.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that troops had clashed with Palestinian rioters as they operated in the city.
“Rioters hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at the forces, who responded by firing shots into the air and with riot dispersal means,” the IDF said, adding that several suspects were hit.
▫️#صورة الشهيد فارس شرحبيل أبو سمرة، الذي ارتقى برصاص الاحتلال في مدينة قلقيلية.
لمتابعة آخر الأخبار عبر قناة نيو برس على تيلجرام https://t.co/6BCL5wfFPS pic.twitter.com/LEasN4TV0R
— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) July 27, 2023
The IDF said that the death of the teenager was under investigation.
The West Bank has seen regular deadly violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the past year.
On Wednesday, an alleged Palestinian gunman was shot dead by Israeli forces during a counter-terror operation in Nablus. The IDF said the man had fired at Israeli troops, and that rioters hurled stones and other objects at the soldiers.
Tensions have been high in the West Bank as the IDF has carried out near-nightly raids amid a series of deadly Palestinian terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have killed 25 people since the beginning of the year.
The IDF said troops detained nine wanted Palestinians in other areas of the West Bank on Thursday morning, with violence in some areas.
According to a tally by The Times of Israel, 160 West Bank Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year — most of them during clashes with security forces or while carrying out attacks, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under unclear circumstances.
