LODNON: Israeli forces fatally shot a 15-year-old Palestinian boy on Thursday during a raid in the Rafidia neighborhood of Nablus, north of the West Bank.
The teenager died in hospital from critical injuries after he was shot in the shoulder, according to the Wafa news agency.
Israeli forces carry out nearly daily and nightly raids across various towns and villages to arrest individuals or conduct house searches over allegedly political or militant activities in the West Bank, a region under military occupation since June 1967.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah said that since the beginning of the year 16 Palestinians have been killed by gunfire from Israeli settlers in the West Bank, with victims ranging in age from 13 to 60.
At least 497 attacks have been carried out by Israeli settlers in the West Bank in March, according to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission. Most of the attacks took place in Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, and Jerusalem. Another 1,322 raids were carried out by Israeli forces over the same period.
All settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law. Excluding East Jerusalem, about 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, alongside about 3 million Palestinians.
