RAMALLAH, July 29 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian teenager was killed on Friday by Israeli soldiers during clashes in a village near the West Bank city of Ramallah, local health authorities said.
The 16-year-old boy was hit by live ammunition fired by Israeli soldiers in the Al-Mughayyir village and died of critical wounds in the chest after being sent to hospital, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a short press release.
Palestinian eyewitnesses told Xinhua that dozens of Palestinian protesters held a demonstration in the village against the Israeli policy of expanding settlements and confiscating Palestinian land.
Waving Palestinian flags and chanting anti-Israeli slogans, the protesters clashed with the Israeli soldiers who used dispersal measures and even opened live fire.
There was no immediate Israeli response to the incident.
Palestinians in the West Bank frequently hold protests against the Israeli settlements, which usually lead to violent clashes with Israeli security forces.
Since 1967, Israel has constructed dozens of settlements on the occupied Palestinian lands. According to official Palestinian figures, more than 600,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. ■
