UPDATE - Palestinian minor shot dead by Israeli forces in West Bank raid

REVISES HEADLINE, ADDS ISRAELI ACKNOWLEGEMENT; ANOTHER ATTACK

By Qais Abu Samra and Ahmed Asmar

RAMALLAH, Palestine/ANKARA (AA) - A Palestinian child was shot dead by Israeli forces in a military raid in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, medics said.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said a 12-year-old boy was shot in the face and abdomen in the town of Yamon, west of Jenin city.

Witnesses said that Israeli forces raided the town, triggering clashes with angry residents, during which Israeli soldiers used live fire and tear gas.

Later, the Israeli army admitted to killing the child, claiming “he had attempted to throw an explosive device at its soldiers.”

In another attack, illegal Israeli settlers set fire to seven homes and five vehicles belonging to Palestinians in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah.

Sinjil Mayor Moataz Tawafsha said “the town has come under attack for the second time in a matter of days, as groups of settlers assaulted lands in both the northern and southern parts of Sinjil, as well as areas in the neighboring village of Al-Mazra'a Al-Sharqiya.”

“Large groups of settlers armed with guns, clubs and stones attacked homes and set them on fire,” he added.

“The goal is to seize the southern lands of Sinjil, completely isolate the town, and turn it into something akin to a prison," Tawafsha said.

Tension has been high in the occupied West Bank, where more than 956 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 injured since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.​​​​​​​

In July last year, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.