News- Middle East: Israeli forces have shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank amid more violent raids by soldiers and illegal settlers, and as Israeli authorities prepare to steal more land.

The official Palestinian Wafa news agency, citing the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), reported that a 17-year-old boy sustained gunshot wounds to his legs near the separation wall in the Sheikh Saad area of al-Eizariya, a town bordering occupied East al-Quds.

Following the incident, he was transferred to a nearby hospital for further medical assistance.

The teenager succumbed to his serious gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

The development came a day after illegal settlers opened live fire on Palestinian civilians in the town of Sinjil, northeast of Ramallah. 

Local sources said that settlers driving a vehicle stormed the western part of the town and opened fire on defenseless villagers. There were no reports of casualties.

Settlers also barged their way into the Tell and al-Baten neighborhoods in the town.

Under the shadow of the genocidal war in Gaza, Israel has accelerated its annexation drive in the West Bank. The occupied West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967.

The Israeli military has intensified daily raids and mass arrests, notably in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, where Israeli bulldozers have razed entire residential areas, expelling at least 40,000 people.

Approximately 770,000 illegal Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, across 180 settlements and 256 outposts – including 138 classified as agricultural or pastoral, according to Palestinian reports.

According to data from the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, illegal settlers conducted 466 attacks in the West Bank during the previous month, resulting in the deaths of four Palestinians and the forced displacement of Bedouin communities comprising 50 families.

At least 1,014 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers since October 2023.

In an advisory opinion issued last July, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful and urged the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds.

Source: Press TV