Israeli media reported that two Palestinians were fatally shot on Monday morning as they purportedly opened fire on and sought to run over Israeli troopers near the illegal Kiryat Arba settlement on the outskirts of al-Khalil (Hebron), located 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of al-Khalil (Jerusalem), the Palestinian Information Center reported.
An Israeli soldier was injured during the exchange of gunfire between the Palestinian pair and the Israeli forces.
Moments later, Israeli military forces shot and killed another Palestinian youth in the same area as he allegedly tried to carry out a similar car ramming attack. Two Israeli troopers sustained injuries in the second assault.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the Palestinians as Qasem Farid Jaber and Ameer Fuad al-Junaidi from al-Khalil, and Yousef Mustafa Tarayra,18, from the town of Bani Naim, east of al-Khalil.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian teenage boy has sustained serious gunshot wounds during clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli military forces in the central part of the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian sources said violence broke out when Israeli soldiers stormed the village of al-Mazraa al-Gharbiya, which lies northwest of Ramallah, on Sunday evening.
Young Palestinian men hurled rocks and empty bottles at Israeli forces, who shot live rounds, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas canisters and stun grenades at the youths in return.
Palestinian medical authorities said the teenage boy, identified as 14-year-old Adi Kamal Salamah, was struck in the chest.
Earlier, on Sunday, Israeli forces shot and injured an unnamed 16-year-old Palestinian boy as he was collecting gravel east of Gaza City.
Tensions have heightened in the occupied Palestinian territories due to Israel’s imposition in August 2015 of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.
Nearly 200 Palestinians, including children and women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of last October.
At least 2,177 Palestinian children have been injured since the outbreak of the tensions, according to the United Nations. At least 41 Palestinian children have also been shot dead by Israeli forces, according to Defense for Children International-Palestine.
