RAMALLAH: Israeli troops killed a Palestinian teenager during an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank, the Palesti­nian health ministry and official media said on Thursday.

The shooting occurred in the city of Qalqilya in the northern West Bank where the Israeli army confirmed it had conducted “counter-terrorism activity”.

“The occupation forces had stormed the Naqar neighbourhood in the west of Qalqilya,” the Palestinian official Wafa news agency reported. “The occupation forces fired live and rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas at residents and their homes.”

The Palestinian health ministry identified the dead teenager as Fares Abu Samrah, 14, and said he died of bullet wounds to the head. The army said the incident was under review.

“During counterterrorism activity in the city of Qalqilya, a violent riot was instigated during which rioters hurled rocks and molotov cocktails at the forces,” the army said.

The troops “responded by firing shots into the air and with riot dispersal means. Hits were identified,” it added.

On Wednesday, a Palestinian was killed in the main northern West Bank city of Nablus during what the army also descri­bed as “counter-terrorism activity”.

On Tuesday, Israeli troops killed three Palesti­nian in an exchange of fire in Nablus.

Rocket fire

A Palestinian group said on Thursday they fired a rocket at an Israeli community, with the army confirming remnants of the projectile had been found in the northern occupied West Bank.

Firebrand Public Secu­rity Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir meanwhile visited the Al Aqsa mosque compound to mark a Jewish day of mourning, though there did not appear to be a link between the two incidents.

A video published by a group calling itself the Ayyash Battalion claims to have fired a rocket at Ram-On, an Israeli town just north of the West Bank.

The army said that following the video their forces “located improvised rocket remnants adjacent to the town of Silat al-Harithiya,” northwest of Jenin. There were no reports of injuries or damages.

Ben-Gvir was among approximately 2,000 Jews visiting the Al Aqsa compound on Thursday, with 16 of them detained for “booing or chanting”, Israeli activists and police said.

Jews are prohibited from praying at the site but allowed to visit. The visit came amid heightened tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thursday’s rocket launch was the second time this month Palesti­nian group in the West Bank have attempted to target Israelis.

On July 10, the army “located two tripods and two improvised rockets remnants adjacent to the community of Shaked”, a settlement in the northern West Bank.

“The rockets did not pose a threat to civilians,” a statement from the military said at the time.

Since early last year, the territory has seen a string of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli targets, as well as violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities.

So far this year, violence linked to the Israeli-Pales­tinian conflict has killed at least 203 Palesti­nians, 27 Israelis, one Ukrai­nian and one Italian, according to a tally compiled from official sources on both sides. They include, on the Palestinian side, combatants as well as civilians and, on the Israeli side, three members of the Arab minority.

Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the West Bank is home to nearly three million Palestinians, as well as around 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements considered illegal under international law.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2023