RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian hurling a rock at them in the occupied West Bank, the military said on Friday, and the Palestinian health ministry said the person killed was a 14-year-old boy.
There was no further comment from Palestinian officials about the fatal incident in the village of Al-Mughayyir. Official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the teen was killed during an Israeli military raid that led to confrontations.
The Israeli military said its forces were called to the area after receiving reports that Palestinians were throwing stones at Israelis and blocking a road with burning tyres.
The soldiers fired warning shots in an attempt to repel a person who was running at them with a rock, the military said, and then shot and killed him to eliminate the danger.
Violence has surged over the past year in the West Bank. Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have risen sharply, while the military has tightened movement restrictions and carried out sweeping raids in several cities.
Palestinians have also carried out attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians, some of them deadly.
(Reporting by Ali Sawafta and Maayan Lubell; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Comments