Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Teen in West Bank Raid, Palestinians Say

A picture taken from the Palestinian village of Baita south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, shows Israeli security forces in the settlement outpost of Eviatar nearby, on February 3, 2023. (AFP)
A picture taken from the Palestinian village of Baita south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, shows Israeli security forces in the settlement outpost of Eviatar nearby, on February 3, 2023. (AFP)
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Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Teen in West Bank Raid, Palestinians Say

A picture taken from the Palestinian village of Baita south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, shows Israeli security forces in the settlement outpost of Eviatar nearby, on February 3, 2023. (AFP)
A picture taken from the Palestinian village of Baita south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, shows Israeli security forces in the settlement outpost of Eviatar nearby, on February 3, 2023. (AFP)

Israeli forces killed a 17-year-old Palestinian boy on Tuesday during a raid in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The teenager, Hamzeh al-Ashkar, was shot in the face by Israeli soldiers who raided the northern city of Nablus at around dawn, the ministry said.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The Den of Lions, a group of Nablus fighters with loose factional affiliations, said some of its members exchanged fire with Israeli forces who had "stormed a housing area".

The group said the teenager who was killed was from the Askar refugee camp near Nablus but did not say he was a group member.

Also early on Tuesday, Israeli forces arrested at least 18 Palestinians in the northern West Bank town of Burqin near Jenin, the Palestinian Prisoners Club advocacy group said.

The operations come during a time of heightened tensions that have drawn fears of a further escalation in violence.

On Jan. 27, a Palestinian gunman killed seven Israelis near a synagogue in East Jerusalem, a day after an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin in which 10 Palestinians including eight gunmen were killed.

The Palestinian health ministry said at least 42 Palestinians, civilians and gunmen, have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers since Jan. 1.

Israel says the raids are a security measure targeting suspected gunmen. Palestinians consider the raids a form of collective punishment and say they are fighting against decades of Israeli occupation.

The violence has prompted calls for calm on both sides from the United States and international organizations including the United Nations.



Israel's Military Launches Wave of Deadly Raids Across West Bank

Israeli security forces gather at the site of an attack near the village of Funduq, in the occupied West Bank, on January 6, 2025. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP)
Israeli security forces gather at the site of an attack near the village of Funduq, in the occupied West Bank, on January 6, 2025. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP)
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Israel's Military Launches Wave of Deadly Raids Across West Bank

Israeli security forces gather at the site of an attack near the village of Funduq, in the occupied West Bank, on January 6, 2025. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP)
Israeli security forces gather at the site of an attack near the village of Funduq, in the occupied West Bank, on January 6, 2025. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP)

The Israeli military launched a wave of raids across the occupied West Bank overnight and into Tuesday, killing at least three Palestinians it said were “militants” after a deadly shooting attack the day before.

The army said it killed two Palestinian “militants” in an airstrike after they fired at troops in the area of Tamun, a village in the northern West Bank. It said another “militant” was killed in “close-quarters combat” in the nearby village of Taluza and that an Israeli soldier was severely wounded there.

The military said it arrested more than 20 suspected militants in different parts of the territory.

It said the overnight operations were not related to the shooting the day before, in which gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Israelis in the West Bank, killing two women in their 70s and a 35-year-old policeman before fleeing the scene.

Israeli forces were pursuing those attackers in separate operations.