Palestinian seriously injured by Israeli fire in West Bank

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - A Palestinian youth was seriously injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, according to the Health Ministry.

A ministry statement said a 21-year-old man was shot in the shoulder by Israeli forces and admitted to a hospital in the city of Qalqilya for medical attention.

The statement said the wounded youth was in critical condition.

According to eyewitnesses, the Palestinian youth was shot near the Israeli separation wall south of Qalqilya.

There was no comment from Israeli authorities on the incident.

Israel has closed all the openings of the wall amid rising tensions across the Palestinian territories in recent weeks over repeated Israeli arrest campaigns and settler incursions into the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.

On Friday, three Israelis were killed in a suspected Palestinian attack in the city of Elad near Tel Aviv.

The entrances at the separation wall are used by thousands of Palestinian workers to reach their workplaces inside Israel.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara