Palestinian teen killed in Israeli army raid in Jenin, Health Ministry says

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Israeli troops shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian as clashes erupted when they entered a volatile town in the West Bank overnight into Saturday, the Palestinian Health Ministry and local media said.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group described the teen as one of its members and said he had taken part in the fighting against the Israeli soldiers. Photos circulated on social media showed him holding a rifle.

The Health Ministry identified the dead as Amjad al-Fayyed, who, the ministry said, was hit in the neck and chest. The ministry said another 18-year-old Palestinian, who was also wounded by Israeli fire, was in critical condition.

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Eyewitnesses said that Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen had exchange fire as troops entered the city and refugee camp of Jenin.

The Israeli military, which has intensified overnight raids in the northern West Bank town of Jenin over the past months, said in response that suspects hurled firebombs and opened fire at troops during an overnight operation in the West Bank. Israeli forces responded with gunfire and “hits were identified.”

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Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the killing. “We warn against the consequences of the occupation’s continued crimes against our people. We urge the international community to condemn them and hold the perpetrators accountable,” Shtayyeh said in a statement.

Last week, an Israeli officer wounded during an hours-long standoff with Palestinian militants at the Jenin refugee camp succumbed to his wounds, Border Police said. The standoff left two Palestinians in critical condition. On Sunday, a brother of a prominent Fatah military leader, died in an Israeli hospital.

Also last week, a veteran Palestinian journalist for Al Jazeera satellite channel, Shireen Abu Akleh, was killed while covering an Israeli military operation in Jenin. On Thursday, 57 U.S. lawmakers demanded the U.S. State Department and Federal Bureau of Investigations launch an investigation into the death of Abu Akleh.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 56 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops since the beginning of the year. Eighteen of whom have lived in the vicinity of Jenin.