Palestinian teenager shot by Israeli settlement guard dies
A Palestinian teenager died Monday days after being shot by an Israeli settlement guard in the occupied West Bank, officials said, the latest fatality in a surge of violence.
The Palestinian health ministry said 17-year-old Ramzi Fathi Hamed "died after being shot by the occupation (Israel) a few days ago in Silwad", a Palestinian village northeast of Ramallah.
Israel's army said Hamed "threw a firebomb at the settlement's guard" who responded with gunfire.
The incident happened outside Ofra settlement, located south of Silwad.
An army spokesperson identified the guard as a member of "security forces" without elaborating.
A spokeswoman for the local Israeli settlement council said she had no knowledge of the incident's details when contacted by AFP.
Silwad's mayor, Raed Hamed, said the teenager was in a car with other young people when he was shot.
"The one who shot at them was the guard of Ofra settlement," he told AFP.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967.
Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, the territory is home to nearly three million Palestinians and around 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements considered illegal under international law.
Hamed's death adds to seven other Palestinians killed since Friday across the West Bank and Israel.
Two Palestinian teenagers were killed by Israeli forces or settlers in separate incidents in the West Bank on Friday.
A day later, a Palestinian man in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv killed an Israeli municipal officer, whose colleague shot dead the assailant.
On Sunday in the northern West Bank, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians the army claimed were militants who posed "an imminent threat".
Violence this year linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has killed at least 212 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on both sides.
They include, on the Palestinian side, combatants as well as civilians and, on the Israeli side, three members of the Arab minority.
Source: Agence France Presse
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