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.



WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

The World Health Organization is sending more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples, its chief said on Friday.

"While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an opinion piece in Britain's The Guardian newspaper.

He wrote that children under five were most at risk from the viral disease, and especially infants under two since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by more than nine months of conflict.

Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. Cases of polio have declined by 99% worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts continue to eradicate it completely.

Israel's military said on Sunday it would start offering the polio vaccine to soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip after remnants of the virus were found in test samples in the enclave.

Besides polio, the UN reported last week a widespread increase in cases of Hepatitis A, dysentery and gastroenteritis as sanitary conditions deteriorate in Gaza, with sewage spilling into the streets near some camps for displaced people.