Israeli Forces Shoot, Kill Palestinian Teenager

Israeli forces have shot and killed a Palestinian teenager near Nablus, which sees weekly protests against Israeli settlements.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the teen was shot during clashes that erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the village of Deir al-Hatab, east of Nablus City, on Friday.

In a statement, the Palestinian Health Ministry identified the victim as Mohammad Da’das, 13, saying he had been shot in the abdomen.

Also in Nablus, clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters in the flashpoint town of Beita and the village of Beit Dajan on Friday.

According to the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance service, five Palestinians were hit by rubber bullets, while 55 others suffered breathing difficulties due to inhaling tear gas during clashes on Sobeih Mountain in Beita, southeast of Nablus City.

The Israeli forces also detained two activists who were present in the area to express their solidarity with the protesters.

Since May, Beita has seen intensified clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians protesting against a settlement outpost that has been established on Sobeih Mountain by settlers under the protection of Israeli forces.

Meanwhile, six Palestinians suffered breathing difficulties due to inhaling tear gas during Friday clashes in Beit Dajan.

Israeli forces usually use force to disperse anti-settlement weekly protests in the occupied West Bank.

Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — territories the Palestinians want for a future state — during the six-day Arab-Israeli war in 1967. It later had to withdraw from Gaza.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank. All the settlements are illegal under international law. The United Nations Security Council has condemned the settlement activities in several resolutions.

Also on Friday, Israeli forces attacked a protest rally staged in support of the Palestinians held in Israeli jails who have gone on hunger strike in the West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron).

Local sources told WAFA that the Israeli forces used rubber bullets, tear gas, and sound bombs against the protesters at the northern entrance to al-Khalil.

At least seven Palestinian inmates have remained on an open-ended hunger strike to protest Israel’s so-called administrative detention, which allows prisoners to be held without charge or trial. More than 7,000 Palestinians are reportedly held in Israeli jails. Hundreds have been incarcerated under the practice of “administrative detention.”

Some Palestinian prisoners have even been held in administrative detention for up to eleven years.

Source: Press TV