Palestinian teen killed by Israeli army fire in West Bank: Health Ministry

Ramallah, July 24 (IANS) A Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli army fire in the town of Arraba in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

In a brief statement on Wednesday, the Ministry identified the victim as 14-year-old Ibrahim Imad Ahmed Mahmoud Hamran.

Khalil al-Arda, a member of the Arraba municipality, told Xinhua that the child was hit by direct gunfire from Israeli forces.

He said there were no clashes reported in the area at the time of the incident.

Al-Arda described the incident as part of "a growing trend of excessive use of force" by the Israeli military in the West Bank.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on the incident.

Tensions have been rising in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, as Israeli forces intensified their operations in the territory.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 947 Palestinians -- among them at least 200 children -- were killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between October 7, 2023 and June 12, 2025.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that a 16-year-old boy was shot in the thigh during clashes between Israeli forces and residents in Al-Ain refugee camp, west of Nablus.

The official news agency Wafa also reported a second injury in the camp, where a Palestinian was wounded by army fire in the leg.

Since the start of Israel's most recent war on the Gaza Strip in late 2023, nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the occupied territory by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

On Thursday, a 22-year-old Israeli security guard Shalev Zvuluny was shot and killed when two Palestinian men opened fire and tried to stab passerbys in the car park of a shopping centre in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, in the south of the West Bank.

The attackers were shot dead by soldiers and armed civilians present at the scene, police said.

--IANS

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