Israel kills 18-year-old Palestinian

An 18-year-old Palestinian has been shot and killed by Israeli Occupation Forces, after allegedly attacking military personnel at an illegal settlement in the Occupied West Bank.

According to the Israeli Magen David Adom paramedic service and Palestinian officials, the youth – identified by the Palestinian Health Ministry as Mohammad Souf from the nearby village of Hares – killed at least two illegal settlers and wounded four others in his attack on the illegal settlement.

As he attempted to flee the scene while running on a highway, he was shot by an Israeli Occupation soldier. Following the incident, troops raided Souf’s family home, where they were reported to have physically attacked his family.

READ: Dozens of Palestinians injured by Israel forces, settler attacks

While no armed Palestinian group announced responsibility or affiliation with Souf’s attack, it was hailed by prominent resistance groups as a heroic operation. Hamas spokesman,Abdel Latif Al-Qanou, stated that it demonstrated “the ability of our people to continue their revolution and defend Al-Aqsa Mosque from daily incursions”.

The socialist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) called it a response “to the policy of field executions pursued by the [Israeli] Occupation and its security services against our people, the last of which will not be the Palestinian girl, Fulla Masalmeh, who was killed in Beitunia yesterday.”

There has been a rise in Israeli raids on the occupied West Bank over the past few months coupled with violence carried out by settlers who have even turned against Israeli forces, at times.

This year alone, over 130 Palestinians have been killed, as well as at least 25 on the Israeli side, reportedly making 2022 the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2005.

READ: ‘We will stay here until Palestine is free,’ says farmer beaten by Jewish settlers