Description

Photo:
Salim Mahmoud Tarayra, 16. Published by Maan News

Scene: Published by Maan News
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HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian teenager on Tuesday morning after he allegedly attempted to stab soldiers in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron.

An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma’an that a Palestinian holding a knife attempted to attack Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near the village of Bani Naim.

The soldiers then shot at the youth, “resulting in his death,” she said, adding that no Israelis were injured in the case.

Bani Naim mayor Mahmoud Manasra identified the slain Palestinian as local teenager Issa Salim Mahmoud Tarayra, 16.

Local sources said they heard gunshots coming from the Wadi al-Joz junction near Bani Naim, then saw large numbers of Israeli military vehicles rushing to the area and setting up a number of roadblocks.

An eyewitness told Ma'an that a bus traveling from Bani Naim to Hebron stopped at the Wadi al-Joz junction, at which point a youth stepped out of the bus, "then Israeli troops fired at him."

The Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an that roads to and from Bani Naim were closed to Palestinians between the ages of 15 and 30, whereas younger and older Palestinians were subjected to "security checks."

Tarayra is the 230th Palestinians to be killed by Israelis since the beginning of a wave of unrest nearly a year ago across the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel. Some 32 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians during the same time period.

He is the seventh Palestinian in the Hebron district, as well as the second resident of Bani Naim, to be killed by Israeli forces since Thursday, amid an uptick in violence after a period of relative calm. A Jordanian citizen was also shot dead by Israeli border police in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday.

Throughout the unrest, rights groups have repeatedly denounced what they have termed Israeli forces' "shoot-to-kill" policy against Palestinians who did not constitute a threat at the time of their death or who could have been subdued in a non-lethal manner.

The Hebron area in particular grew as the epicenter of upheaval, with Israeli authorities severely restricting the movement of Palestinians in parts of its Old City as a "closed military zone" for several months, while July’s closures on Hebron saw the most widespread restrictions on movement in the occupied West Bank in two years.

In the wake of this week's violence, the Israeli army deployed an additional battalion to the Hebron district, while an Israeli army officer vowed strict punitive measures would be would be imposed on Palestinian civilians in the area.

Israel has come under harsh international condemnation for its response to attacks, which rights groups have said amounted to “collective punishment” and represents a clear violation of international law.