Alwaght- Israeli occupation forces have shot dead a Palestinian teenager in a raid on a refugee camp occupied West Bank’s southeast, amid an upswing in Israeli attacks as well as settler violence against Palestinians.
Citing local sources, Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported that a large number of Israeli troops, covered by two military bulldozers, stormed the Nur Shams refugee camp, located three kilometers (1.8 miles) east of Tulkarm, in the early hours of Tuesday.
The sources added that Israeli forces were stationed in the al-Mahjar neighborhood, and snipers were positioned on the rooftops of houses and buildings overlooking the camp, before violent confrontations broke out, Iran’s Press TV reported.
Israeli soldiers reportedly fired live ammunition and tear gas canisters at young Palestinian men.
Israeli military bulldozers also destroyed the main street adjacent to the entrance to the camp as well as several vehicles parked in the area.
Palestinian medical officials identified the teenager as 19-year-old Ayed Samih Abu Harb, who was killed when fierce exchanges of gunfire broke out between Palestinian resistance fighters and Israeli troops in the camp.
The sources added that another Palestinian was also critically wounded during the Israeli army aggression and was taken to a nearby hospital to receive medical treatment.
Israeli forces launch raids on various cities of the West Bank almost on a daily basis under the pretext of detaining what the regime calls “wanted” Palestinians. The raids usually lead to violent confrontations with residents.
More than 200 Palestinians have been killed this year in the occupied Palestinian territories and Gaza. The majority of these fatalities have been recorded in the West Bank.
Those figures indicate that 2023 is already the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the United Nations began keeping track of fatalities in 2005.
Previously, 2022 had been the deadliest year with 150 Palestinians killed, of whom 33 were minors, according to the United Nations.
