Israeli security forces fatally shot a 14-year-old Palestinian during an early morning raid Friday into a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said, the latest incident in weeks of surging violence.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the deceased teenager as Omar Khumour and said he died after being struck in the head by a bullet during an Israeli military raid into Dheisha refugee camp near the city of Bethlehem.
The death of Khumour brings the toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank so far this year to 14, including three people under the age of 18, according to a tally by The Associated Press.
Violence and unrest have raged for months in the occupied West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip — territories the Palestinians want for their hoped-for state.
Some half million Israelis now live in about 130 settlements across the West Bank, which the Palestinians and much of the international community view as an obstacle to peace.
The Israeli military has been conducting near-nightly arrest raids in the territory since last spring.
Israel says the raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks. The Palestinians see them as further entrenchment of Israel's open-ended, 55-year occupation of lands they seek for their future state.
Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 2022, according to figures by the Israeli rights group B'Tselem, making it the deadliest year since 2004.
The Voice of Palestine radio station reported that two Palestinians were injured during the Israeli army's raid on the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin.
There was no statement from the Israeli army regarding the operations in the West Bank.
Tension has been running high across the West Bank in recent weeks amid repeated Israeli raids to detain what they say "wanted Palestinians" or to demolish Palestinian homes.
The raids have sparked clashes with Palestinians, causing several fatalities.
