Israeli forces kill 15-year-old Palestinian in West Bank
- Last updated: June 29, 2026 | 23:32
Israeli forces fatally shot a 15-year-old Palestinian teenager during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Palestinian health ministry said, as violence surges in the Israeli-occupied territory.
"The child Amir Ahmad Jawad Jaber, 15 years old, was martyred after being shot in the head and once in the chest by occupation soldiers during their raid in the Umm al-Sharayit neighbourhood in Al-Bireh" near the West Bank city of Ramallah, the ministry said.
The Israeli military said in a statement that during a military operation "a violent riot began, during which rocks were hurled toward IDF soldiers".
"The soldiers responded with fire toward a suspect in the area. A hit was identified," it added.
The Palestinian Red Crescent had earlier said its teams were transporting to hospital and trying to resuscitate a 15-year-old who was shot in the head with live ammunition during a raid in the Umm al-Sharayit area.
Dozens of mourners gathered at the Palestine Medical Complex as grieving relatives wept over the teenager's body.
"Today, we witnessed a clear-cut execution in broad daylight," Laila Ghannam, governor of Ramallah and Al-Bireh, told AFP.
"This is a disgrace to all institutions who claim to uphold democracy and human rights.
"When it comes to our cause, they see nothing. They allow this occupation to escalate its campaign of terror every single day — not only across Palestine, but throughout the entire region."
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, violence has escalated in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,085 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 2023, including both militants and civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data, which says 71 people were killed in 2026.
Official Israeli figures show that at least 46 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war.
Agence France-Presse