Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinian teens in West Bank clashes
'This policy will lead to an explosion of the situation and to more tension and instability'
Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian teens in separate incidents of clashing on Friday in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
A 14-year-old teen was shot in the city of Qalqilya in the northern West Bank, and a 17-year-old was killed and another wounded in the village of al-Mazra’a al-Gharbiyah near Ramallah, the ministry added.
The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that there were clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in the area.
Israel’s army said it was conducting routine activity near Qalqilya when a suspect hurled a Molotov cocktail at its forces, who responded with live fire. In al-Mazra'a al-Gharbiyah, witnesses said Israeli soldiers opened fire at the residents during clashes with Israeli settlers.
The Israeli army’s spokesperson said rioters hurled rocks at settlers and Israeli forces, lightly wounding a soldier, and the forces responded with riot dispersal means “in accordance with standard operating procedures,” including live fire.
“These crimes are part of a series of violations and field execution against our people,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the West Bank’s Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
"This policy will lead to an explosion of the situation and to more tension and instability.”
Israel has intensified raids in the West Bank following a spate of Palestinian street attacks that killed 19 people in its cities. More than 80 Palestinians, including gunmen and civilians, have been killed since January, in what the European Commission described as the deadliest year in the territory since 2008.