Clashes erupt in occupied West Bank as mourners gather for Palestinian child shot by Israeli forces

13-year-old boy was shot during clashes that broke out between stone-throwing Palestinian residents and Israeli soldiers

The boy was shot during clashes that broke out between stone-throwing Palestinian residents and Israeli soldiers (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians erupted on Saturday, at the funeral of a 13-year-old who died after being killed by Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank.

Hundreds of mourners gathered and carried the teenager’s body wrapped in a Palestinian flag through the streets of Ramallah and the village of Almugayer, where the youth was struck on Friday. 

The boy was shot, according to the local health ministry, during clashes that broke out between stone-throwing Palestinian residents and Israeli soldiers in his village.

Israeli forces were responding to a protest held by a local resident against a new settlement outpost in the area.

The teenager was rushed to a local hospital after being hit in the stomach, where he later succumbed to his wounds, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

At the funeral, dozens of people threw stones toward Israeli forces and set tires aflame. Israeli soldiers responded with intermittent barrages of tear gas.

Late on Friday, the top UN political envoy in the region said he was “appalled” by the killing of the teenager. Israel should “swiftly” and independently “investigate this shocking and unacceptable incident,” Nikolay Mladenov wrote on Twitter.

The Palestinian foreign ministry as well as the Palestinian factions deemed the incident a “war crime”, adding that Israel must be held accountable.

Meanwhile the Israeli military, commenting on the death, said “dozens of rioters”  hurled rocks at Israeli personnel and border police, who responded with “riot dispersal means.” It denied that its forces used live ammunition.

Unicef, the UN agency concerned with children, condemned the killing of Abu Alaya.

“Unicef urges Israeli authorities to fully respect, protect, and fulfil the rights of all children and refrain from using violence against children, in accordance with international law,” Ted Chaiban, the agency's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.

Confrontations between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces entering Palestinian-controlled areas of the occupied West Bank are common. The military often raids Palestinian towns to arrest people suspected of planning or taking part in violence. 

Palestinians communities regularly take Friday as a time to protest against Israeli land-grabbing policies and road blockades.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have condemned Israel’s response to such demonstrations, which frequently result in the loss of life.

Although protests have been less frequent this year due to coronavirus, at least 28 Palestinians including seven children, have been killed, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.