By Awad Rajoob and Mohammad Sio
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Israeli forces shot and wounded seven Palestinians during raids late Monday in the northern and central occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian health officials.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its teams transported two injured children from the village of Udala, south of Nablus, to a hospital. One of them, a 13-year-old boy, suffered a gunshot wound to the chest, while the other, a 15-year-old, was shot in the hand.
The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that Rafidia Hospital in Nablus received one critically injured child from Udala.
According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, clashes broke out when Israeli forces stormed Udala, firing live bullets and tear gas.
South of Nablus, Red Crescent paramedics also transported a 33-year-old man shot in both legs and a 17-year-old boy wounded in the thigh and pelvis during confrontations in the town of Beita.
In the central West Bank, the Red Crescent reported three additional injuries in the legs from live fire during confrontations with Israel forces in the village of Shuqba, near Ramallah.
However, WAFA disputed reports of clashes in Shuqba, saying that Israeli forces raided the village during iftar, (the evening meal breaking the Ramadan fast, firing at civilians and assaulting some of them.
The raids were the latest in the military escalation in the West Bank, where at least 928 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the onslaught against the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The International Court of Justice declared last July that Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories is "unlawful," demanding the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.