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TULKAREM (Ma’an) -- A Palestinian teenager was reportedly shot and injured in the knee by Israeli soldiers near a checkpoint in the northern occupied West Bank district of Tulkarem on Monday.

Yahya Omar Ali Sarhan, 19, told Ma’an that he was walking towards the Jabara checkpoint, where he sells lighters, when he saw two Israeli soldiers deployed in a nearby field of olive trees.

Sarhan said that one of the soldiers fired once at him without warning, injuring him in the knee. The youth added that the soldiers ran towards the checkpoint after firing at him.

The Palestinian Red Crescent in Tulkarem said its staff rushed to the area, and took Sarhan to the Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in the city of Tulkarem. The Red Crescent said that Sarhan’s injury was moderate.
Palestinian police took Sarhan’s testimony at the hospital.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that they were looking into the reports.

However, a source in the Tulkarem office of the Israeli Civil Administration told Ma'an that they had investigated the incident, and denied that the army was involved.

Israeli forces have come under repeated criticism for excessive use of force, notably against Palestinian youths.

In August, a report released by Palestinian NGO BADIL documented the Israeli army’s targeting of Palestinian youth with live fire in Bethlehem’s al-Duheisha refugee camp, specifically shooting youth in the kneecaps and legs.