Palestinian teenager dies after being shot by Israeli troops

More than 300 people were injured during protest against illegal settlement near West Bank village of Beita

Ruba Al Tamimi holds her son, Mahmoud, at the funeral of her other son, Muhammad, who died after being shot by Israeli troops during protests near Beita in the occupied West Bank on July 23, 2021. AFP

A Palestinian teenager has died after being shot during clashes with Israeli soldiers at a protest over illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Mohammed Munir Al Tamimi, 17, suffered gunshot wounds and died in hospital, the Palestinian health ministry said on Saturday.

Violence flared in the flashpoint Palestinian village of Beita on Friday.

The Red Crescent said 320 Palestinians were injured in the clashes.

Twenty-one were wounded by live fire and 68 by rubber-tipped bullets, while many others were affected by tear gas, it said.

Hundreds of Palestinians had gathered in the afternoon in Beita to protest against the settlement of Eviatar nearby.

The Israeli army said its soldiers had responded “with riot dispersal means” after Palestinians hurled rocks at them.

Israel said two of its soldiers were “lightly injured” in the violence.

Beita has been the scene of frequent unrest since May, when dozens of Israeli families arrived and began building the settlement on a hill near Nablus, in defiance of Israeli and international law.

After weeks of tension, including some clashes, the government of nationalist Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett struck a deal with the settlers and they left Eviatar.

The Israeli defence ministry has yet to determine whether the land on which they had built rudimentary homes can be considered state territory.

The Israeli military will maintain a presence in Eviatar until the decision has been made.

The agreement was rejected by the mayor of Beita, who said on Thursday that “clashes and protests will continue” as long as any Israeli “remains on our land”.

All Jewish settlements in the West Bank are regarded as illegal by most of the international community.