Description

Photo:
Baraa Hamamda, 18. Published by Maan News
_______

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- An 18-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces during a detention raid in the al-Duheisha refugee camp in the southern occupied West Bank district of Bethlehem on Friday morning.

The Palestinian Red Crescent told Ma’an that the teenager succumbed in the hospital to wounds sustained in his upper body, after Israeli forces raided the refugee camp seeking to detain two residents.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the slain youth as Baraa Hamamda.

Locals told Ma’an that Israeli forces detained Muhammad Ubeid and Muath Abu Nassar during the raid, adding that they then fired live bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at al-Duheisha residents.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an that during a detention raid in al-Duheisha, Palestinians threw "explosive devices and blocks" at Israeli forces, who fired towards the youth.

They added that the army was "examining... reports of a casualty."

Despite stating that the army had raided al-Duheisha to carry out detentions, the spokesperson said they did not have immediate information about the two detentions in the refugee camp, only confirming the reports on Friday afternoon.

Hamamda's death came as three Palestinian citizens of Israel and two Israeli police officers, also Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, were killed in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday morning, after carrying out a shooting attack in the Old City, raising the toll of Palestinians killed by Israelis in 2017 to 43.

According to Ma’an documentation, 18 of these slain Palestinians were younger than 20 years old at the time of their deaths, and 14 were killed during army raids or clashes.

Two other young Palestinians -- 17-year-old Aws Muhammad Salameh and 20-year-old Saad Nasser Salah -- were killed by Israeli forces in similar circumstances during an overnight raid in Jenin refugee camp on Wednesday.

Ten Israelis have been killed by Palestinians during the same time period.

Israeli raids in Palestinian towns, villages, and refugee camps are a daily occurrence in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Due to the typically aggressive nature of the raids, clashes often erupt between local Palestinian youth who throw stones and are met in response with live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets, and tear gas, often resulting in serious, sometimes fatal, injuries.