A Palestinian teenager has been shot dead by soldiers belonging to the Israeli Army in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
Palestinian ministry of health officials reported on Monday that Israeli soldiers had shot and killed the teenager during an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank.
The teenager, Arkan Mizher, aged 15, was shot in the chest during clashes in Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, in the southern West Bank, the ministry reported. His funeral is billed to take place later on Monday.
The Israeli army reported that its forces had entered the camp and arrested two people suspected of “terror activity”.
The Israeli Army further reported in a statement released to the press that the Palestinians had instigated a violent riot during the raid in which they hurled rocks, firebombs and home-made grenades on Israeli soldiers. The army reiterated that the soldiers had no choice but to fire live rounds at the protesters.
The camp raided by the Israeli Army is in a part of the West Bank supposedly under full Palestinian control but raids are regularly carried out by the Israeli army in such areas.
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The Israeli Army justifies the raids saying the operations are necessary to arrest suspects, but they often spark violent clashes with young Palestinians.
Prior to this raid, there have been violent protests on the Israeli Gaza border where some Palestinian deaths have also been recorded with many injured by gunshot wounds to the leg when they tried to storm the border crossings unarmed under the noses of Israeli soldiers.
The recent passage of the controversial Jewish state Law has also stoked tensions in the country with many politicians of Arab descent comparing the law to Apartheid. They say it entrenches discrimination against non-Jewish members of the Israeli state in the Israeli constitution.