Tel Aviv, April 11, (dpa/GNA) – The West Bank erupted in violence on Monday, as a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by Israeli soldiers, an Israeli mother with serious injuries from a Friday attack died, and pro-settlement protests marched in the occupied territory.
The boy was killed from gunshot wounds to the head, chest and abdomen in an Israeli military operation in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The incident occurred at a refugee camp near Jericho, the ministry said.
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF), said it was in the camp on an operation to arrest a terror suspect.
“IDF soldiers operated in the Aqabat Jabar camp in order to apprehend a terror suspect. During the activity, violent riots were instigated in a number of locations,” the military said.
“As the soldiers left the area, suspects opened fire toward them, hurled explosive devices and Molotov cocktails. The soldiers responded with live fire.”
Meanwhile an Israeli mother, seriously wounded on Friday in the West Bank when the car she was traveling in with her two daughters was hit with gunfire, died. Her two daughters were killed in the attack.
The car carrying the sisters and their mother was fired on from another vehicle on Friday, according to media reports. The Israeli army is still searching for the perpetrators, who are thought to be Palestinians.
Amidst the tension, thousands of Israelis, including far-right ministers and members of parliament, participated in a closely guarded march to the Evyatar settlement in the West Bank on Monday.
The aim of the march to the settler outpost, south of the Palestinian city of Nablus, was to demonstrate solidarity with the settler community on the West Bank following a renewed eruption of violence.
Politicians opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing religious government expressed criticism of the march, saying it distracted the security forces from their real work during a tense period.
There were protests by Palestinians during the march, according to media reports. The Palestinian Red Crescent said about 100 people were treated after tear gas was used.
Evyatar, which is considered an illegal outpost under Israeli law, was evacuated around two years ago after the authorities reached agreement with the settlers. Members of Netanyahu’s government are now seeking to legalize the settlement.
Palestinians in the region claim the land as their own. Several Palestinians have died in protests in the area in recent years.
Israel draws a distinction between settlements set up with official permission and “wild settlements” established by radical settlers who then seek to have them legalized retroactively.
All settlements are illegal under international law. At the end of 2016, the UN Security Council called on Israel to halt all settlement activity in the occupied territories.
GNA