Conflicts & War

Palestinian teen killed in West Bank raid

(Update 1: Alters age of deceased)

Jerusalem, Nov 9 (EFE).- A Palestinian teenager was killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday, official sources reported.

“Mahdi Hashash, 17, died at dawn after shrapnel hit different parts of his body during an incursion by the occupation forces in Nablus,” the Palestinian ministry of health said, without identifying the source of the shrapnel.

Soldiers and Border Police forces were deployed in the northern West Bank city to secure “the entrance to Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus after shots were fired in the area,” the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) wrote on Twitter.

A group of Israeli lawmakers was visiting Joseph’s Tomb, sacred in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, when “Palestinian gunmen fired in the direction of a convoy of MKs (members of Knesset),” according to local media.

Far-right and ultra-Orthodox legislators were planning to pray before entering the new government coalition, which is expected to be formed in the coming weeks following Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory in the November 1 elections.

According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the teenager was killed by “Israeli gunfire” that also left three other Palestinians injured.

Some 57 Palestinians suffered from suffocation as a result of the tear gas bombs thrown towards them by Israeli soldiers, Wafa said.

Israeli military spokesman told public broadcaster Kan the Palestinian teenager was shot dead after he opened fire at Israelis and tried to throw an explosive device at them.

He was likely also hit by shrapnel from the weapon he was holding when he was shot, the spokesman added.

Tensions have been running high in the occupied West Bank for months, with 143 Palestinians, including many civilians and children, killed in military operations, clashes or lone attacks so far this year, the deadliest since 2006.

Twenty-four Israelis, including 17 civilians, have died in the wave of violence.EFE

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