Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian youth in West Bank

The Israeli military, in a statement released before midnight on Saturday, alleged that a Palestinian man armed with a handgun was killed near the illegal Kedumim settlement.

According to local Israeli officials, the Palestinian, whose identity was not immediately released, was spotted on the settlement’s surveillance cameras approaching Kedumim’s northern neighborhood at around 11:50 p.m. local time (2150 GMT).

The security coordinator for the settlement and another guard reached the scene and purportedly spotted that the Palestinian man had pulled out a handgun.

“The guard then engaged him and shot at him, and killed him,” the settlement said in a statement to residents.

There were no reports of Israeli injuries in the purported incident.

Earlier on Saturday, two illegal settlers were wounded in a shooting attack in occupied East al-Quds, a day after seven people were killed in an attack near a synagogue on the outskirts of the city.

A father, 47, and son, 23, were in serious condition with “gunshot wounds to their upper body”, a spokesperson for Israel’s rescue emergency response service Magen David Adom (MDA) announced, after the shooting in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, near the Old City of the al-Quds.

On Thursday, the Israeli military carried out a deadly raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. Ten Palestinians were killed, including an elderly woman, following several hours of intense confrontations between dozens of Israeli soldiers and Palestinian resistance fighters.

Israeli forces launch raids on various cities of the occupied West Bank almost on a daily basis under the pretext of detaining what it calls “wanted” Palestinians. The raids usually lead to violent confrontations with residents.

Over the past months, Israel has ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested.

The United Nations marked 2022 as the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in 16 years.

Israeli forces killed at least 171 Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied East al-Quds last year, including more than 30 children. At least 9,000 others were injured as well.