Palestinian Teen Martyred Amid Rising Settler Violence
NABLUS (Dispatches) – Zionist troops shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The ministry identified the teen as Gaith Yamin, who it said was shot in the head.
According to the ministry, the victim died at a hospital in early Wednesday from a gunshot wound to his head. The teenager was afflicted with the injury during clashes with Zionist troops.
Zionist settlers, protected by regime troops, arrived at the tomb early on Wednesday and were confronted by Palestinian residents who object to their presence in the city.
The occupying regime’s army violently dispersed the Palestinian crowds, firing live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets and teargas.
At least 80 Palestinians were wounded, according to Palestinian medics.
The clashes came at a time of heightened tensions between the two sides spurred by the Zionist regime’s recent assassination of well-known Palestinian journalist Shereen Abu Akleh.
The veteran Al Jazeera journalist was shot in the head on May 11, when she was reporting on an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.
On Tuesday night, several attacks on Palestinian civilians and properties were reported by local media in the towns of Huwara, Burqa, Urif and Burin.
At least six people were injured and damage was recorded to vehicles and shops, according to the Palestinian news website Arab48.
Settler violence across the West Bank has seen an “alarming” rise since 2021, according to United Nations experts.
Some 370 settler attacks that led to damage to property were recorded in 2021 and a further 126 assaults caused casualties.
Violence carried out by settlers includes the use of live fire, physical assaults, arson attacks and uprooting of olive trees.
In a latest incident, a Palestinian infant was seriously injured after settlers attacked his parents’ car with pepper spray in the occupied West Bank.
Palestine’s official Wafa news agency, citing local officials, said the infant was seriously hurt late on Monday when settlers attacked his parents’ car on a road linking Jenin and Nablus districts.
The infant’s father said after the incident that four Zionists opened the door of their car after he stopped near the West Bank outpost of Homesh and pepper-sprayed him, his wife, and his infant son.