Israeli forces shoot dead Palestinian youth in Nablus

By Qais Omar Darwesh Omar and Hamdi Yildiz

NABLUS, Palestine (AA) - Israeli forces killed a Palestinian youth Wednesday in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Sixteen-year-old Ahmad Shehade died from a bullet wound that pierced his heart as Israeli troops opened fire during a raid on the city, the ministry said in a statement.

Clashes broke out between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians as the latter were trying to prevent Israeli troops from carrying out the raid, and five Palestinians were injured, it added. One of them is in critical condition.

Emergency personnel of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society told Anadolu Agency that Israeli soldiers opened fire on health workers who were taking care of the wounded.

Dozens of others suffered suffocation from tear gas shelling by the Israeli forces, they noted.

Moreover, eyewitnesses said as Israeli settlers stormed Joseph's Tomb, a large military unit accompanied by military bulldozers entered Nablus to protect settlers.

Joseph's Tomb has long been a flashpoint for violence.

Jews believe the site to be the burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph. Muslims, however, challenge this claim, saying an Islamic cleric – Sheikh Yusuf Dawiqat – was buried at the site two centuries ago.