Israeli soldiers have on Friday allegedly shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian during stone-throwing clashes in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said.
But in a swift reaction, the Israeli military said its forces had not used live fire during the clash.
According to Palestinian Health Ministry, the teenager was said to have been hit by a live bullet in his abdomen and was taken for treatment at a hospital in the Palestinian city of Ramallah where he later died, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Read Also: Iran Tensions: Israeli Navy Gets Its Most Advanced Warship
But an Israeli military spokeswoman said soldiers had used what she described as ‘riot dispersal means,’ including the firing of rubber bullets, to confront dozens of Palestinians who were hurling stones at them and trying to roll rocks and burning tires at Israeli vehicles.
‘The reports of live-fire use during the riot are not true, and claims about a number of rioters injured and one killed are known,’ she said.
The Palestinian teenager was involved in a weekly protest against Israeli settlements at al-Mughayyir village near Ramallah, said Marzouq Abu Naeem, a village councilman.
He said protesters were throwing stones at soldiers.
‘This ugly crime is a war crime and a crime against humanity,’ the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Palestinians propose to establish an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip which are territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Why reacting to the incident, the United Nations’ Middle East envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, said he was appalled by the killing.
‘Israel must swiftly and independently investigate this shocking and unacceptable incident,’ he tweeted.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK