Palestinians say teenager died after Israeli raid in West Bank


JERUSALEM: A Palestinian teenager was killed early Wednesday following an Israeli raid in the city of Nablus, near an outbreak site in the occupied West Bank, on Palestinian Ministry of Health said. The army said it was protecting worshipers and shot a suspect who had planted an explosive device nearby, which detonated.
Palestinian officials identified him as Mahdi Hashash, 15, and said he was killed by shrapnel during an Israeli raid. A branch of the Palestinian militant group Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade called the teenager “our martyr”.
The military said it was protecting civilians visiting the site known to Jews as the biblical Tomb of Joseph. The military said gunshots were heard in the area and the military fired back, including at the person with the explosive device.
It was not immediately clear whether the raid was linked to a Tuesday night visit by eight Knesset members, new lawmakers and allies of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuwho won last week’s national elections.
Eight members of Netanyahu’s Likud party and his right-wing allies said in a statement that they surrendered after dark.
The clash came in one of the deadliest years for both sides of the conflict, including after last week’s national elections. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won, with the support of a far-right ultranationalist party.
Palestinian assailants have killed at least 24 people in Israel since the start of 2022. Escalating Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has also killed some 130 Palestinians this year, making it the deadliest since 2006 , according to Israeli rights group B’Tselem.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East War and has since maintained a military occupation of the territory and settled more than 500,000 people there.
Palestinians seek the territory, along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, for a future independent state.
Some Jews believe that the biblical Joseph is buried in the tomb of Nablus, while Muslims say that a sheikh is buried there. The army escorts Jewish worshipers to the site, known to Jews as Joseph’s Tomb, several times a year, in coordination with Palestinian security forces.
As Israeli-Palestinian violence erupted this year, the site once again became a hot spot.
In April, around 100 Palestinians marched to Joseph’s Tomb and set it on fire before being dispersed by Palestinian security forces. Images on social media showed parts of the tomb inside the shrine shattered and charred.
Earlier this month, the Israeli military said forces escorting Jewish worshipers to the shrine came under fire and then returned fire. An 18-year-old Palestinian was killed in the violence.



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