Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian teen in West Bank

Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian teenager in the West Bank on Friday after he threw stones at their patrol, Palestinian medical and security sources said.

Mohammad Kosba, 17, was killed by two bullets after launching the stones at an Israeli military vehicle close to the Qalandia checkpoint, south of Ramallah, the sources said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the soldiers had opened fire after their vehicle was damaged.

"The forces called the suspect to halt and shot warning shots in the air. Once he continued hurling rocks at close range and in response to the imminent danger the forces fired towards the suspect," the spokeswoman told AFP.

Thousands of Palestinians assembled Friday morning at a crossing point from the West Bank, trying to access Jerusalem for prayers in the Old City, according to Palestinian security sources.

The killing was the latest in a series of violent altercations since the start of Ramadan.

Last month a Palestinian woman stabbed and moderately wounded a female Israeli soldier in the neck at a checkpoint between Jerusalem and the West Bank city Bethlehem.

On June 29, a Palestinian opened fire on Israeli soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint before being shot dead.

A week earlier, a Palestinian from the West Bank stabbed an Israeli policeman near Jerusalem's Old City before being shot. Both were seriously wounded.

And on June 19, the first Friday of Ramadan, a Palestinian shot dead an Israeli hiker near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Israel has responded to the violence by revoking permits for Palestinians living in the West Bank to visit relatives in the Gaza Strip and has limited Palestinian access to flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
Source: AFP