Palestinian youth killed in clashes with Israeli troops

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - A Palestinian man was killed on Friday in clashes with Israeli forces near the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

“Mahmoud Yousef, 18, was shot dead by Israeli troops during clashes near the Al-Jalazon refugee camp north of Ramallah,” the ministry said in a statement.

“The victim was shot in the abdomen with live ammunition and died of his wounds at the Ramallah medical center,” it added.

According to the ministry, five other Palestinians sustained gunshot injuries in different parts of the occupied West Bank on Friday, while dozens of others suffered from the effects of teargas.

West Bank Palestinians stage demonstrations each Friday to protest Israeli settlement expansion and Israel’s massive “separation barrier”, which snakes through the occupied territory, isolating many small Palestinian communities.

According to Israeli figures, some 650,000 settlers currently live on scores of Jewish-only settlements built in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in contravention of international law.