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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian teen near the Huwwara military checkpoint in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus on Thursday, locals and Israel's army said.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an that "during routine security activity" at the checkpoint Israeli forces approached a suspect for questioning, when the suspect "charged the forces while armed with a knife."

The forces "responded to the immediate threat" and shot the teen, killing him, the spokesperson said.

Palestinian ambulance driver Kamal Badran identified the Palestinian as 15-year-old Abdullah Hussein Nasasra, from the Nablus-area village of Beit Furik.

Badran told Ma'an that Israeli soldiers gathered around the teen preventing medical teams from treating him after he fell.
No Israelis were injured during the incident.

Nasasra's death marks at least 123 Palestinians to be killed since violence escalated in the occupied Palestinian territory in October.
Much of the recent violence has taken place through attacks carried out by Palestinian individuals that have left 19 Israelis killed in the same time period.

The circumstances of several deaths have been widely disputed by critics who say that Israel has implemented a "shoot-to-kill" policy against Palestinians.

The Executive Director of Israeli rights group B'Tselem, Hagai El-Ad, said earlier this month that the policy is being used against Palestinians who have already been “neutralized" during attacks.

El-Ad said in a statement that Israeli soldiers and police officers effectively became “judge, jury and executioner” after the policy was encouraged by senior Israeli politicians and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

PLO Central Council member Muhammad Eshteyyah in a press conference last week said that 85 percent of Palestinian deaths to take place since Oct. 1 could have been prevented if the “shoot-to-kill” policy was not implemented.

Two Palestinian 16-year-old's were killed at the Huwwara checkpoint last month, one of whom was run over and shot by an Israeli settler who said the teen had attempted to carry out an attack.