A 15-year-old Palestinian teenager was shot dead early Monday by the Israeli army during an operation in a town in the central occupied West Bank, the Palestinian government said.
“Fella Rasmi Abdel Aziz Al-Masalma, whose 16th birthday would have been tomorrow, Tuesday, died from a bullet to the head fired by occupation soldiers. [israelita] during his raid on Beitunia”a West Bank city near Ramallah, the Palestinian Ministry of Health explained.
The Israeli army confirmed that its forces carried out “anti-terror activities at various points” in the West Bank, including Beitunia, where they entered to arrest a wanted suspect.
During the military operation, “the soldiers identified a suspicious vehicle approaching them. They signaled to the driver of the vehicle to stop, but he sped towards them. In response, the soldiers fired at the vehicle,” an army spokesman said. From Israel. .
“The incident is being investigated,” he added.
The young woman was in the passenger seat of the car, which was being driven by a man, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported, citing a witness.
“Apparently, the driver was surprised by the presence of military occupation vehicles more than 200 meters from him. When he saw the soldiers, he tried to withdraw. But the soldiers, hiding in a dark place, opened fire directly at the car.” the witness reported.
The driver, who was bleeding from a shoulder, got out of the vehicle with his hands in the air and was run over and detained by the Israeli army, who “promptly approached where the girl was and took her out of the car while her head was bleeding.” , and the vehicle was “riddled with bullets, mainly on the windshield, with sandwiches covered in blood,” adds the same source, who believes that “the couple were eating sandwiches when they were surprised by the military.”
Raids and capture operations by Israeli military forces in the occupied West Bank have intensified for seven months, reaching almost daily frequency, following several deadly attacks on Israelis between March and April.
These operations often result in armed clashes with Palestinian militias, but in many cases, the fatalities are children and civilians, such as journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, shot dead in an Israeli operation six months ago.
The death of this teenager brings to 145 the number of Palestinians killed in violent incidents in the West Bank and Israel since the beginning of this year, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, making 2022 the bloodiest year in the region since 2006. , 24 people died.
Source: TSF
