Teenage boy shot dead by Israeli troops in West Bank

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/17/teenage-boy-shot-dead-israeli-troops-west-bank

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A 13-year-old boy has been shot and killed by Israeli forces in a village near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

Bahaa Badr was shot in the chest on Thursday evening during clashes between protesters and Israeli forces who entered Beit Liqya near the separation wall with Israel.

According to reports, soldiers opened fire after demonstrators threw stones and Molotov cocktails at three Israel army Jeeps that entered the village west of Ramallah.

It is still unclear whether Badr took part in the clashes, which the Israeli army described as an “illegal riot”.

A spokesperson for the Israeli military said the army would investigate the killings, and that soldiers had been forced to fire at the boy when he threw a firebomb at them.

Ahmed Betawai, the director of the Ramallah hospital, said Badr died of his wounds about two hours after he was shot in the chest three times by live ammunition.

Laila Ghanam, the governor of Ramallah and Al Bireh, told Watan News the killing of the 13-year old boy was a “stain on a silent world” and another example of Israel’s crimes against children.

Tensions in the West Bank have risen since the start of Israel’s 50-day war in Gaza in July, in which over 2,000 Palestinians have been killed.

In a separate incident on Thursday in Jerusalem’s Silwan neighbourhood, Arab Israelis threw Molotov cocktails at a car and a police vehicle.

Frequent clashes have been reported in areas near east Jerusalem, where the Al-Aqsa mosque is located – the third holiest site in Islam.

Tensions at Al-Aqsa and Temple Mount spiked this week when Israeli border police began limiting access to Palestinian worshippers at the Haram al-Sharif in east Jerusalem. Israel has prevented men under 50 from worshipping at the mosque.

Protests and riots have been planned for after Friday prayers.

Protesters in the Old City alleged the Jewish worshippers were being given full access to Temple Mount during the Jewish festival Sukkot. The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, denied the allegations and blamed “Palestinian extremists” for instigating violence.