TEL AVIV: Israeli troops shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy during clashes in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Palestinian officials said, and an Israeli teen wounded by an alleged Palestinian gunman earlier this week died of his injuries.
The Israeli military said troops had fired towards Palestinians hurling Molotov cocktails at them late on Wednesday near the Palestinian village of Beita, south of Nablus.
“The troops operated to stop the suspects by firing towards them,” an Israeli military spokeswoman said, adding that the incident would be investigated.
Residents of Beita and the nearby village of Odala say there have been clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops near the villages’ entrances the past several nights.
A second Palestinian was shot in the back during the clashes on Wednesday and was being treated in hospital, the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement announcing the 16-year-old’s death.
The clashes have been taking place as the Israeli military has been conducting searches in the area for an alleged Palestinian gunman who opened fire on Sunday at a West Bank intersection, seriously wounding two Israelis and lightly injuring another.
One of the Israelis, a 19-year-old male, died of his injuries on Wednesday night, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said on Twitter.
The Israeli Security Agency, also known as Shin Bet, said it had arrested a Palestinian suspect over the shooting, identifying him as a 44-year-old resident of the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya.
The Shin Bet said the man was not affiliated with any militant groups.
Tensions have been high in the West Bank and Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, peaking with several days of clashes near Jerusalem’s Old City between Israeli police and Palestinians over access to a popular night-time meeting spot.
Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek the territories, along with the Gaza Strip, for a future state.
