Israeli settlers kill Palestinian teenager in occupied West Bank
Israeli settlers shot and killed a Palestinian teenager near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, Palestine’s Health Ministry said in a statement on Friday. In a separate incident the same day, the IDF killed a retired Palestinian man in Jenin, according to Al Jazeera.
Karim Sanad Shalaldeh, 17, was shot dead by Israeli settlers during an attack on the town of Sa’ir, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. A 70-year-old man was also wounded by the gunfire, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Israeli troops were sent to the area after Israelis “present in the area without advanced authorization” were injured by thrown rocks, the IDF said. A “security official” then opened fire, causing Palestinian casualties, it said, adding that Israeli police are investigating.
On the same day, Israeli forces killed a 58-year-old Palestinian man in Jenin, according to Wafa. Fathi Khazem, a retired colonel of the Palestinian National Security Forces, was shot dead during an Israeli raid of his home, Al Jazeera reported. According to the IDF account, “a terrorist armed with a knife” attempted to attack a soldier and was shot.
The shootings came just days after Israel opened a tender for the construction of more than 1,200 homes in the occupied West Bank as part of a controversial settlement expansion unveiled in July. Critics say the construction will effectively cut Palestinian territory in two if completed.
On Thursday, leaders of more than a dozen countries, including Germany, France, and the UK, as well as the European Commission, issued a joint statement condemning the project as illegal and “unacceptable.”
Rising violence in the Palestinian territory has also drawn a warning from the US. Israeli settlers who take West Bank property belonging to Palestinian-Americans could face sanctions, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Reuters.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War. Around three million Palestinians live there along with more than 600,000 Israeli settlers. Under the internationally backed two-state solution, the West Bank would form part of a future Palestinian state together with East Jerusalem and Gaza.
Moscow has long stressed the conflict can only be resolved through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
