Palestinian teenager killed by IDF fire

The funeral of 17-year-old Muhammad al-Tamimi took place on Saturday, N12 reported.

Photojournalists and Palestinian demonstrators run away from tear gas fired by Israeli forces during an anti-Israel protest, in Bethlehem in the West Bank May 21, 2021. (photo credit: MUSSA QAWASMA/REUTERS)
Photojournalists and Palestinian demonstrators run away from tear gas fired by Israeli forces during an anti-Israel protest, in Bethlehem in the West Bank May 21, 2021.
(photo credit: MUSSA QAWASMA/REUTERS)
A 17-year-old Palestinian was fatally wounded by IDF fire on Friday during clashes in the town of Nabi Saleh near Ramallah on Friday, Palestinian media reported.
 
On Saturday afternoon, the funeral of 17-year-old Muhammad al-Tamimi took place, N12 reported.
 
The Palestinian Authority’s news agency, Wafa, reported that he had been shot by Israeli security forces during a confrontation near Ramallah on Friday afternoon.
 
He was transferred to a hospital in the nearby city of Salfit, where he died of his wounds a few hours later.
 
Shots were fired at a violent protest near the Ephraim region, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said Saturday. Dozens of Palestinians threw rocks as part of the demonstration, and in response, the IDF used crowd dispersal tactics.
 
After a suspect threw rocks in a manner that endangered the lives of one of the soldiers, the soldier responded with live fire as part of the procedure, said the IDF.
 
The incident will be investigated, the IDF said in a statement.
 
The clashes in Nabi Saleh were a result of a Palestinian protest against the expansion of a nearby settlement into what they consider to be their land.
 
Numerous protests took place simultaneously across the West Bank on Friday.
 
Larger protests centering around the Evyatar outpost have been the cause of weekly clashes in the nearby Palestinian town of Beita.
The majority of the protests on Friday took place in Beita and Beit Dajan, where Sheikh Atef Yousef Hanaisheh was shot in the head and killed by IDF troops in March of this year.
 
More than 140 Palestinians were injured across the West Bank throughout the day, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Ten of them were in Nabi Saleh, where Tamimi was shot in the abdomen.
 
Witnesses said that a crowd of young Palestinians hurled stones at Israeli forces, who in return attempted to disperse the crowds using tear gas and rubber bullets.
 
Two Israeli soldiers were lightly injured, the IDF said, not commenting further.
 
Palestinian photojournalist Ayman al-Nubani was reportedly present at the clashes in Beita in order to cover the incident but was hit and injured by a rubber bullet when Israeli forces attempted to disperse the crowd.
 
Reuters contributed to this report.