Web Desk (LTN NEWS): According to the Palestinian health ministry and witnesses, an Israeli soldier shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian in the village of al-Mughayyer, which is near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
The youth was named Amjad Nashat Abu Alya by the ministry. He was shot in the chest on Friday afternoon, the ministry said.
He was taken to a hospital in Ramallah, where his death was confirmed around 2 p.m. (11:00 GMT).
The killing happened when Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers got into fights with Palestinians who were protesting settler violence in the area.
Several popular committees and the Palestinian Authority’s Committee against the Wall and Settlements, which regularly organizes protests, had called for the demonstration to happen at around 11 am (8:00 GMT).
Hadi Sabarneh, a journalist who was at the protest, told that, in addition to Israeli forces, a group of settlers had also arrived, including one with what looked like an M-16 rifle, which the journalist filmed.
“Both the army and the settler fired at the people throwing rocks, who were protesters. “The young man fell to the ground when they both started shooting,” Sabarneh said.
Nassar Nassar said that he was about 10 meters (30 feet) away when his cousin Amjad was killed. He also said that the armed settler was “shooting at random.”
He told, “There were fights and a lot of tension between the young people and the Israeli army and settlers.”
“One settler had a gun, and my cousin was right next to him. It was point blank.”
Nassar said that it was not clear if Amjad had been killed by Israeli army fire or by fire from settlers.
Nassar said, “It’s clear that they wanted to kill her because the shot was above her waist.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli army said, “We’ve heard that a Palestinian was killed,” and that the army had reacted because Palestinians had burned tires and thrown stones.
The spokesperson also said that the army had “worked to restore order” after “Palestinians and settlers got into fights in which they threw rocks at each other.”
Israeli news outlets also said that a settler was hurt.
International law says that building settlements in the occupied West Bank is wrong, but Israeli governments have kept letting them grow.
According to his cousin, Amjad was in the 10th grade and went to protests often, especially after his friend Ali Abu Alya was killed by Israeli forces in 2020 during a fight between Israeli forces and Palestinians.
“He was his best friend, and when he was killed, Amjad was always the first person to help,” Nassar said.
