RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Authority said on Friday that Israeli forces shot dead a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in the occupied West Bank, while the military said he had been throwing stones at Israeli cars on a road.
The authority’s Health Ministry said it had been informed of the killing of Fahd Zidan Oweis. He was “shot dead by the (Israeli) forces at dawn today in the town of Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiyya in the Nablus governorate. His body has been withheld,” it said.
The Israeli army said that during a counterterror operation in the area it “eliminated a masked terrorist” who had “hurled rocks toward Israeli vehicles on a central road, endangering lives.”
In a separate incident in the village of Jibiya, north of Ramallah, Palestinians said Israeli settlers set fire to a room inside a mosque and torched two cars parked in its courtyard.
Graffiti in Hebrew was also sprayed on the mosque’s outer walls. The attack took place shortly after midnight, according to Ibrahim Zibar, an employee at the mosque.
“Young men from the village noticed smoke coming from one of the mosque’s windows and from two vehicles in the courtyard,” he said.
“It appears they tried to burn down the entire mosque.”
AFP video footage showed a shattered window and fire damage to a carpet and plastic chairs inside the mosque, while residents inspected the charred remains of the two vehicles.
“Our situation is no different from that of other villages,” said resident Saber Shalash.
“This attack targeted our cars, our property, and the mosque, which we built through donations,” he said.
The Palestinian Ministry of Religious Affairs condemned what it called “the settlers’ gangs setting fire to the mosque,” describing the arson as “a cowardly terrorist act that reflects an extremist mindset with no respect for religion or international law.”
The Israeli military said troops searched for the suspects responsible for the attack but were unable to locate them.
“Later today, the incident will be investigated at the scene by the Israel police,” it said.
The military “strongly condemns incidents of this kind, including harm to religious institutions, and will continue to act decisively to maintain security and public order in the region.”
Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have persisted for years, often with little or no legal consequence.
The recent surge in violence, particularly since the outbreak of the Middle East war, has drawn broad international condemnation, including criticism from influential rabbis, some settler leaders, and members of the Israeli military establishment.
More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts across the West Bank, alongside roughly three million Palestinians.
All settlements are considered illegal under international law.
Violence has increased in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.
According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian Health Ministry figures, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,072 Palestinians in the West Bank since the war began.
Official Israeli figures show at least 46 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period.
