Israeli troops shot and killed a teenage Palestinian boy as they raided the northern city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry and local media said.
The health ministry identified the dead teen as Amjad al-Fayyed, 17. It said an 18-year-old Palestinian was in a critical condition after being wounded by Israeli gunfire.
“A 17-year-old boy was killed and an 18-year-old was critically wounded by the Israeli occupation’s bullets during its aggression on Jenin,” the ministry said in a statement.
Local media reported confrontations erupted outside Jenin’s refugee camp when Israeli forces stormed the area, and al-Fayyed was hit by about a dozen rounds fired into the upper part of his body.
The Israeli military said Palestinian suspects fired on its soldiers and threw fire bombs at them. “The soldiers responded with live fire toward the suspects. Hits were identified,” the military said.
It was not immediately clear whether the teen killed was one of those suspects.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group described the teenager as one of its members and said he had taken part in the fighting against the Israeli soldiers. Photos circulated on social media showed him holding a rifle.
A hub of armed Palestinian groups, the Jenin area has been repeatedly raided by Israeli forces since a wave of attacks in late March, with many of the perpetrators coming from there. Operations to track down suspects and clashes with Palestinians have often turned deadly for both sides.
‘Thorough and transparent’ investigation
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the killing.
“We warn against the consequences of the occupation’s continued crimes against our people. We urge the international community to condemn them and hold the perpetrators accountable,” Shtayyeh said in a statement.
Immediately after the announcement of al-Fayyed’s killing, a march began in front of Ibn Sina Hospital in the city, in which mourners carried his body on their shoulders and roamed the streets.
The number of Palestinians killed in Jenin since the beginning of 2022 has reached 20.
Israel says it carries out “counterterrorism activities” to detain wanted fighters and planners of recent deadly attacks in the occupied West Bank and Israel.
On May 11, Shireen Abu Akleh, a veteran Palestinian-American journalist for Al Jazeera Media Network was killed by Israeli forces while covering an Israeli raid in Jenin. Israel accused Palestinian fighters of firing at the journalist but backtracked later.
On Thursday, the Israeli military announced it will not conduct an investigation, saying a probe that treats Israeli soldiers as suspects will lead to opposition within Israeli society.
The US State Department renewed calls for a “thorough and transparent” investigation, but stopped short of calling for an independent probe.
