Palestinians: 2 teens killed in clashes with Israeli army

In this file photo, a demonstrator holds a Palestinian flag during clashes with Israeli troops near the border with Israel in the southern Gaza Strip Jan. 9, 2018. (Reuters)

GAZA CITY: Palestinian health officials say two Palestinian teens have been killed in clashes with the Israeli military in separate incidents in the West Bank and Gaza.
In Gaza, the health ministry says 16-year-old Amir Abu Musaed was shot in the chest. The Israeli military says “violent riots” took place along the border fence and that troops opened fire at three protesters who “posed a threat” to soldiers.
In the West Bank, the ministry says Ali Omar, 16, was shot in the head by live fire in clashes near the city of Nablus. The military had no immediate comment, but it has stepped up security in the area following the killing of an Israeli there this week.
The shootings come after the Palestinian government attacked comments on Wednesday by the US ambassador to Israel blaming it for the failure of peace efforts, after an Israeli settler was killed in the occupied West Bank.
In the latest tensions between them, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry accused US Ambassador David Friedman of a “prejudiced and selective attitude” toward the conflict.
“An Israeli father of six was killed last night in cold blood by Palestinian terrorists,” Friedman said on Twitter Wednesday after a 35-year-old was killed near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.