Israeli forces shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian child in the late hours of Tuesday, August 1. Just hours before, a 20-year-old Palestinian man was also killed by them. The killings come amid rampant Israeli raids across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem earlier in the week. At least two Palestinians were arrested and several injured.
The teenager killed was identified by the Palestinian Ministry of Health as Muhammad Farid Shawqi Al-Zaarir. He was reportedly killed by an Israeli soldier near the illegal settlement outpost of Eshtemoa, west of the town of Al-Samou in southern Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces claimed that he was shot dead as he was attempting to stab one of the soldiers with a knife. They did not provide any evidence to back their claim. Farid was reportedly studying in the ninth grade and was one of the top students in his class. After shooting at him, the Israeli soldiers reportedly left him bleeding on the ground, preventing Palestinian medics from reaching him in time.
Earlier in the same day, Israeli forces killed 20-year-old Mohammad Suleiman Mazara near the illegal Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli forces claimed that Mazara had shot at Israeli settlers present in the area at the time, injuring at least six people.
Earlier in the week, Israeli forces conducted multiple raids across the occupied West Bank, with settler attacks and other acts of violence against Palestinians also being reported.
On Tuesday, Israeli settlers, protected by a large contingent of soldiers and two bulldozers, invaded the Joseph’s Tomb in the city of Nablus. The Israeli forces had barricaded several streets in the area and erected military roadblocks to restrict the movement of Palestinians. Those who protested the invasion were subsequently attacked using live fire and tear gas. Dozens of Palestinians were injured, three with live ammunition.
Reports noted that a day later, on Wednesday afternoon, Israeli forces invaded the town of Zababdeh, southeast of Jenin, along with the towns of Qabatiya, Ya’bad, and Arraba, the Masliyeh village, and the Al-Fara’a refugee camp, south of the town of Tubas. Later in the evening, they invaded other areas in the West Bank, including the Al-Mughayyir village, northeast of Ramallah, and the town of Yatta, south of Hebron. They unleashed violence against residents trying to resist the illegal invasions, attacking them with tear gas, rubber bullets, and even live ammunition. Several Palestinians suffered bullet injuries and were taken to hospital for medical treatment.
Since the beginning of this year, Israeli settlers and security forces have killed at least 204 Palestinians, including 36 children. Of these, 167 have been killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and 36 in the Israeli violence and airstrikes in Gaza. The high rate of killings has made this year already among the deadliest for Palestinians.
According to a report released by human rights group Yesh Din last year, only 1% of Israeli soldiers accused of complicity in such killings and violence against Palestinians have officially been charged with any crime. The group said that military law enforcement authorities “systematically avoid investigating and prosecuting soldiers who harm Palestinians.”
