Palestinian Teenager Killed in the West Bank

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Facts

  • Palestinian medics reported on Monday that a 14-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces during a raid in the Dheisha refugee camp, near Bethlehem in the West Bank, as soldiers faced off with stone-throwers, according to witnesses.
  • The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the teenager as Omar Khumour, saying that he had been shot in the head. Crowds of Palestinians gathered outside the hospital in which he died, chanting slogans against Israel.
  • The Israeli military said that residents of the camp threw improvised explosive devices, petrol bombs, and rocks as Israeli forces entered the area, reportedly forcing the soldiers to respond with live fire.
  • The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the army entered the camp "at dawn and launched a campaign of raids on citizens' homes," sparking a confrontation with the local residents.
  • Khumour is the fourth Palestinian minor killed in the West Bank by the Israeli army and the 14th Palestinian killed in total since the beginning of 2023. This comes as the UN stated that 2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2006.
  • The Israeli military has expanded its operations in the West Bank, mainly in the north, over the last year following a string of deadly attacks in Israel last spring.

Sources: Reuters, Associated Press, Jerusalem Post, France24, and Al Jazeera.

Narratives

  • Pro-Palestine, as provided by Middle East Eye. As Israel expands its near-daily raids into the West Bank, more and more Palestinians are dying. Omar Khumour was just a boy, but even that did not save him from being murdered in cold blood by Israel's war machine. Last year was the most deadly twelve months for Palestinians since the Second Intifada, in which Israel brutally cracked down on Palestinian resistance to occupation. The international community cannot allow Israel to continue carrying out these crimes.
  • Pro-Israel, as provided by Times of Israel. Though it is tragic when innocent bystanders, particularly children, are killed, the fault for such losses ultimately falls on Palestinian militancy and terrorism, which has survived through its use of the civilian population as a shield. Most of those killed in the last year have been terrorists and had to be neutralized so Israeli forces could keep civilians safe. Indeed, the only reason raids in the West Bank have expanded over the last year is due to Palestinian terrorism in Israel.