Israeli forces kill Palestinian boy in West Bank, health ministry says

What the report says

Israeli forces shot dead a 14-year-old Palestinian boy during an operation in Burqa, a village northwest of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian officials cited by BBC World News. The Palestinian health ministry identified the boy as Moataz Daghlas and said he was killed on Monday evening. The incident came during an Israeli military operation in an area where, the army said, stones had previously been thrown at Israeli vehicles.

The Israeli military said soldiers saw several people it described as suspects who were preparing to throw stones at a road used by Israelis. It said troops fired toward them to remove what it called a threat. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its crews treated two wounded people, but that Israeli forces blocked access to a third injured person and detained three volunteer medics.

Relatives of the dead boy said Israeli authorities were holding his body, while Palestinian news agency Wafa said two other Palestinians were wounded: a 17-year-old shot in the abdomen and pelvis and a 19-year-old shot in the hand. BBC World News also noted wider UN data showing a high toll of Palestinian deaths in the West Bank this year, alongside Israeli fatalities there, underscoring continuing violence in the territory.

As background, the BBC reported that UN human rights officials have previously questioned the use of lethal force in West Bank confrontations involving stone-throwing, saying such cases may not meet the threshold for imminent threat under international law.