 "Israeli security forces member. (AFP/File Photo)")
Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian teenager on Saturday in the occupied West Bank town of Qabatiya during a military operation by the Israel Defense Forces, the military and Palestinian officials said. The 16-year-old was killed in the Al-Sab’aneh neighbourhood after soldiers said he was suspected of throwing a concrete block at them.
The Israeli military initially said its soldiers had been attacked by a “terrorist” who “hurled a block toward the soldiers”. In a later statement, the IDF said the Palestinian was “suspected of hurling a block at IDF soldiers” and confirmed that the incident is under review.
Video footage reviewed and geolocated shows a soldier firing at the teenager from close range, reported CNN. The 26-second security camera clip, shared on social media, captures a person walking down an alley towards two helmeted soldiers who are crouched behind a corner. As the person reaches the corner, one soldier raises his rifle and fires at point-blank range, causing the teenager to fall backwards. The video shows the 18 seconds before the shooting, during which nothing appears to be thrown from the alley. The teenager’s left hand is obscured, and it is not clear who recorded or first released the footage, or what happened before the video begins.
On Saturday, Israeli news site Ynet published what it said was a photograph of the teenager’s left hand clutching a piece of concrete, taken after his death.
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The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the victim as Rayan Muhammad Abdul Qader Abu Mualla, citing the Palestinian General Authority of Civil Affairs, and said his body is still being held by Israel. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli troops prevented its emergency workers from reaching the scene. Separate videos geolocated by CNN show an ambulance with its emergency lights on stopped about 650 feet away from the site of the shooting.
Late on Saturday, Abu Mualla’s school announced on Facebook that it would close on Sunday in his memory and postpone exams by a week.
In a separate incident on Saturday, the Ministry of Health said the IDF shot and killed a 22-year-old Palestinian man, Ahmed Saed Ziyoud, in Silat al-Harathiya, a town north of Jenin in the West Bank. The IDF said on Telegram that it shot an individual who “hurled an explosive” towards soldiers. On Sunday, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine said Ziyoud was a fighter in the Al-Quds Brigades and was killed by an Israeli sniper’s bullet during the storming of the town.