Israeli Forces Fatally Shoot Palestinian Teenager in Northern West Bank

Friday, 03 March 2023 1:06 AM

File photo shows the Israeli regime's troops in an unidentified location in the Tel Aviv-occupied West Bank.

The Israeli regime's forces have fatally shot a Palestinian teenager and wounded two others in the northern part of the Tel Aviv-occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank.

The Palestinian health ministry identified the victim as Mohammad Nedal Saleem, 15, who was shot in the back by the troops in the town of Azzun in the northwestern West Bank on Thursday, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

The ministry referred to the wounded as two other teenagers, saying one is in critical condition after being targeted in the chest with a live bullet fired by the troops.

The agency cited witnesses as saying "Israeli occupation forces fired at the three Palestinian teenagers while they were at the entrance to the town."

Saleem's death took the number of Palestinians, who have been killed by the Israeli regime's forces and settlers since the beginning of the year, to 68.

The fatalities include four, who were killed by Israeli settlers' gunfire, 13 children, four elderly people, and one prisoner.

At least 21 of the fatalities were caused during two separate mass raids carried out by the Israeli troops on the cities of Nablus and Jenin, both in the northern part of the West Bank, earlier this year.

The Israeli regime has escalated its deadly acts of aggression against the Palestinians since late December 2022, when Benjamin Netanyahu staged a comeback as the regime's prime minister at the head of a cabinet of hard-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.

Just a day earlier, Knesset (the Israeli regime's parliament) approved a draft bill that, if signed into law, would authorize the execution of the Palestinian detainees, who perform anti-occupation operations.

Hamas rages against a draft Israeli bill that authorizes execution of Palestinian detainees.

The Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas, which is headquartered in the Gaza Strip, denounced the development as the regime's bid to legalize its systematic killings of Palestinian people.