RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian teens in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
One teen, 14, was shot in the city of Qalqilya in the northern West Bank and another was killed in the village of al-Mazra’a al-Gharbiyah near Ramallah, the Health Ministry said.
The Israeli military said it was conducting routine activity near Qalqilya earlier on Friday when a suspect hurled a Molotov cocktail at its forces, who responded with live fire.
The Palestinian WAFA news agency reported that there were clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in the area.
In al-Mazra’a al-Gharbiyah, witnesses said Israeli soldiers opened fire at the residents during clashes with Israeli settlers, killing a 17-year-old Palestinian and wounding another.
The Israeli military 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.
Both incidents were under review, the spokesperson added.
“These crimes are part of a series of violations and field executions against our people,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a statement. “This policy will lead to an explosion of the situation and to more tension and instability,” he added.
Israel has intensified its raids in the West Bank in recent months following a spate of Palestinian street attacks that killed 19 people in its cities and as a general election approaches on Nov. 1.
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 West Bank since 2008.
At least 20 Palestinian minors have been killed in West Bank hostilities this year, according to United Nations data.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in a 1967 Middle East War. Palestinians seek these territories for a future state.
(Reporting by Ali Sawafta; Writing by Henriette Chacar; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
