RAMALLAH/JERUSALEM, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced Sunday the death of a Palestinian teenager who succumbed to injuries sustained after being shot by the Israeli army in the northern West Bank.
In a brief statement, the ministry said that Mohammed Hanani, 17, died from critical wounds he sustained after being shot by Israeli soldiers on Saturday evening in the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus, without providing further details.
Eyewitnesses and security sources told Xinhua that Israeli forces stormed the town on Saturday evening and began searching residents' homes.
They added that Israeli soldiers opened fire on two young men, one of whom was shot in the head and later died in hospital, while the other, aged 16, was shot in the foot.
For its part, the Israeli military said on Sunday that its troops had shot dead a Palestinian man and injured another in the West Bank, describing them as militants.
In a statement, the military said that on Saturday, in the Beit Furik area, southeast of Nablus city, soldiers identified two "terrorists" approaching them, holding an explosive.
"In order to remove the threat, the soldiers opened fire toward the terrorists, eliminating one of them and neutralizing the other," the statement read.
The West Bank and East Jerusalem, which were captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War, have witnessed a continued escalation in violence since Oct. 7, 2023, coinciding with the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian statistics, more than 1,080 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since that date. ■
