Israeli army accepts it targeted unarmed Palestinian boy

The Israeli army yesterday accepted that its soldiers opened fire and wounded an unarmed Palestinian boy in the West Bank city of Salfit, Anadolu has reported.

The army claimed earlier that the boy was armed with a knife and trying to carry out a stabbing attack when he was shot. However, it now accepts that the boy did not have a knife at the time of the incident.

In its statement, the IDF alleged that the boy and another Palestinian youth were trying to damage the security fence near the illegal Jewish settlement of Ariel in the north of the West Bank. When approached by soldiers, the boy apparently attempted to take something out of his pocket. Although the soldiers opened fire, they found that he had nothing in either his pocket or his hands.

The victim was evacuated to an Israeli hospital for treatment. The authorities have not revealed any information about his condition.

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