Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian teenager during a raid Tuesday morning in the Nablus district in the northern occupied West Bank.
Local Palestinian media reported that Israeli forces raided the Balata refugee camp in Nablus city in the early hours of Tuesday morning, sparking confrontations with local residents.
During the raid, Israel forces shot a Palestinian teenager in the head with live ammunition around dawn. He was identified by the Palestinian Ministry of Health as 15-year-old Imad Khaled Saleh Hashash.
Hashash was reportedly transferred to the Rafidia governmental hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Defence for Children International — Palestine (DCIP) reported that Hashash was watching the raid from the roof of his house when he was shot in the head.
Palestinians in the Balata camp declared a general strike on Tuesday in mourning of the teen’s killing. He was laid to rest on Tuesday afternoon in a funeral procession that drew thousands of mourners from the camp.
Hashash is the 12th Palestinian child to be killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2021, following the killing of 11-year-old Mohammed al-Alami in July. According to DCIP, 71 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli in 2021, the vast majority during the Israeli offensive on Gaza in May.
Israeli detention raids in Palestinian cities, villages, and refugee camps are a near-nightly occurrence in the occupied West Bank, with Israeli forces often using lethal force during such raids.
Earlier this month, Israeli forces conducted another deadly raid on the Jenin refugee camp that killed four young Palesitnians, including two teenagers, aged 19.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs (OCHA), Israeli forces have conducted more than 2,500 arrest raids in the West Bank since the beginning of the year. From the period of July 27th to August 9th, Israeli forces Israeli forces carried out 92 raids across the West Bank, arresting 115 Palestinians, including 11 children.
