Israeli fire kills Palestinian teen in West Bank clashes

Relatives mourn during the funeral of 15-year-old Palestinian Imad Khaled Saleh Hashash at the Balata refugee camp, in the north of the occupied West Bank yesterday.

Israeli fire killed a 15-year-old Palestinian in the occupied West Bank yesterday when clashes erupted after Israeli forces searching for a suspect stormed a refugee camp near Nablus. The Palestinian health ministry said Imad Khaled Saleh Hashash died after sustaining a gunshot wound to the head in the Balata refugee camp. A crowd gathered later yesterday in Balata for Hashash’s funeral, waving Palestinian flags. “A 15-year-old boy, what did he do?” said Khaled Ahmed, a cousin of the victim. “An innocent boy sleeping at home, he heard a shooting in the camp so he went out like everyone else to see what was happening and was shot in the head,” Ahmed told AFP. Deadly unrest is common in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory Israel has occupied since 1967. Earlier this month, four Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli security forces in the restive Jenin refugee camp. Following the deaths, Palestinian presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina warned of the risk of an “explosion of the situation” in the occupied territory. Some 2.8mn Palestinians live in the West Bank, as do 475,000 Israelis in settlements that are deemed illegal under international law.