West News Wire: According to the Palestinian health ministry and eyewitnesses, the Israeli army shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian in the town of al-Mughayyer, close to the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
The young man was named by the ministry as Amjad Nashat Abu Alya, and it was reported that he had been shot in the chest on Friday afternoon.
He was transferred to a hospital in Ramallah, where at around 2pm, he was declared dead (11:00 GMT).
The murder occurred during clashes with the Israeli army and Jewish settlers that erupted after a Palestinian rally against settlement brutality in the region.
Several popular groups including the Committee against the Wall of the Palestinian Authority had called for the demonstration, which started at around 11am (8:00 GMT).
Journalist Hadi Sabarneh, who was present at the scene, told news reporters that, along with the Israeli forces, a group of settlers had arrived at the protest, including one armed with what appeared to be an M-16 rifle, which the journalist filmed.
“Both the army and the settler were shooting at the protesters who were throwing rocks. When they both started shooting, the youth fell to the ground,” Sabarneh said.
Nassar Nassar, said he was approximately 10 metres (30 feet) away when his cousin Amjad was killed, adding that the settler who was armed was “shooting indiscriminately”.
“There were confrontations, and there was a lot of friction between the youth and the Israeli army and settlers,” he told news reporters.
“There was one settler who was armed, and my cousin was very close to him it was point blank.”
Nassar said it was not clear whether the Israeli army or settler fire had killed Amjad.
“It’s clear that there was the intention to kill because the shot was above the waist,” Nassar said.
The Israeli army spokesperson said that it was “aware of reports of a Palestinian that was killed”, and that the army had responded after Palestinians burned tyres and threw stones.
The spokesperson added that the army had “worked to restore order” after “clashes erupted between Palestinians and settlers, which involved throwing stones at one another”.
Israeli media reported that a settler was also injured.
Settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law, but Israeli governments have continued to allow their expansion.
According to his cousin, Amjad was in the 10th grade and regularly attended protests, particularly after his friend, Ali Abu Alya, was killed by Israeli forces in 2020 during confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinians.
“He was his closest friend, and after his killing, Amjad was always at the first line of defence,” said Nassar.
