MEE Staff
Middle East Eye / January 16, 2023
Omar Lotfi Khumour is the youngest Palestinian to be killed this year after he was shot in the head.
A 14-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by Israeli forces on Monday near the occupied city of Bethlehem.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the boy as Omar Lotfi Khumour who was shot in the head and while in hospital succumbed to his wounds.
The Israeli army has not commented on the killing, but it said its forces entered the Dheisheh refugee camp in dawn raids on houses.
“Suspects threw stones, explosives, and Molotov cocktails at the forces, who responded with riot dispersal means and live fire,” the Israeli army said in a statement.
No suspects were arrested in the camp, according to the statement.
Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians last week. So far this year, 14 Palestinians have been killed, including three children.
At least 167 were killed last year in the occupied West Bank, the highest death toll since the Second Intifada.
Israeli forces conduct near-nightly search-and-arrest operations in the West Bank, which often turn deadly.
Most of the raids have focused on Nablus and Jenin in recent months, which are home to a growing number of Palestinian fighters.
Tensions at Al-Aqsa, shops demolished
There were further tensions on Monday after Israeli forces demolished 15 Palestinian-owned shops located at the entrance to the town of Hizma, east of occupied Jerusalem.
This was followed by Israeli settlers storming Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard under the protection of Israeli forces.
Palestinian worshippers to Al-Aqsa faced restrictions as a result of the raids, facing stringent checks at key entry points.
In Hebron/Al-Khalil, Palestinian farmers were not allowed to work on their lands after Israeli forces raided their allotments.
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Israeli army kills Palestinian boy in the occupied West Bank
Al-Jazeera / January 16, 2023
Omar Khmour, 14, was shot in the head by the Israeli army during a raid on Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
Ramallah, occupied West Bank – The Israeli army has shot and killed a Palestinian child during a raid in the southern occupied West Bank.
The boy was identified as 14-year-old Omar Khaled Lutfi Khmour by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which announced his death on Monday afternoon.
The ministry had reported early on Monday that Khmour suffered a serious injury when he was shot in the head by Israeli forces during the raid on the Dheisheh refugee camp in the city of Bethlehem.
Israeli forces raided the camp just before dawn on Monday and carried out arrests, during which confrontations broke out with Palestinian youth.
The Israeli army said its troops opened fire in response to having rocks, Molotov cocktails and improvised explosive devices thrown at them.
The Palestinian Ministry of Education condemned the killing and said Khmour was a student in the ninth grade at a United Nations refugee agency school in the camp.
Khmour is the fourth Palestinian minor killed by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank in the first 16 days of 2023. He is also the 14th Palestinian killed by Israelis in total during the same period.
The Israeli army regularly carries out raids, arrests and killings of Palestinians living under military occupation since 1967 in the West Bank.
Over the past year, however, Israel has stepped up its operations, leading to near-daily raids and killings in Palestinian villages, cities and refugee camps under the banner of crushing limited armed resistance focused in the north of the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces have killed civilians confronting them during raids, uninvolved bystanders as well as Palestinian fighters in targeted assassinations and during armed clashes. The majority of those killed, however, have been civilians.
The United Nations said 2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2006, with Israeli forces killing 171 Palestinians, including more than 30 children.
A total of 224 Palestinians were killed in 2022, including 53 people during a three-day Israeli assault on the besieged Gaza Strip. Of the 53, 17 were children.
At least 9,000 Palestinians were injured during the same period.
SOURCE: AL-JAZEERA
