Israel kills 16-year-old Palestinian at ‘point-blank’ range in West Bank 

Israeli forces have shot dead two Palestinians, including a teenage boy, during separate raids in the Jenin governorate in the occupied West Bank, officials say, with security camera footage showing soldiers shooting the victim at a “point-blank” range.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced late on Saturday that Rayyan Abdel Qader, 16, had been fatally shot by Israeli forces after storming the town of Qabatiya, while the second victim, 22-year-old Ahmad Zayoud, was killed in Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin.

Witnesses said Israeli troops had opened fire directly at Abdel Qader, the Wafa news agency reported on Sunday, blocking emergency crews from reaching him, leaving him to bleed until he died. His body was held by Israeli forces, the Palestinian agency reported.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Zayoud was shot in the chest. A 15-year-old Palestinian boy sustained injuries to his hand during the incident, the ministry said.

Zayoud’s killing comes about a week after Israeli forces killed a 16-year-old in the town.

Reporting from Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said surveillance footage showed Abdel Qader walking towards what locals said was his home when Israeli forces shot him “point-blank”.

“We don’t often have video surveillance to show how many of these killings have been done under what Palestinians call extrajudicial killings, which is Israeli forces killing Palestinians point-blank or under excuses that they say they’ve been doing something that is seen as resisting Israeli forces,” she said.

“Not only that, they refused to let anyone come close to the body for 40 minutes, a practice we’ve been seeing a lot in the occupied West Bank where Israeli forces kind of wait for the person to die,” Ibrahim said.

Al Jazeera spoke to Abdel Qader’s family, who said they had no idea what had happened.

“It’s really part of the pain that the families have to endure, seeing videos like that showing how little regard the Israeli army has for Palestinian lives,” Ibrahim said.

Over 200 children killed since 2023

On the other hand, the Israeli military said the deaths occurred after the victims hurled a block and an explosive at their forces – claims that have turned out to be false most of the time. It claimed that Abdel Qader had been shot after hurling a block towards its soldiers, who responded with fire, while Zayoud had thrown an explosive.

No Israeli troops were injured in the incidents, it said.

The latest deaths bring the death toll from Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank to 1,101, including 229 children, since October 7, 2023 – the day of the Hamas-led attack that led to a brutal Israeli response against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Nearly 21,000 Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli authorities during that period. As of December 1, some 9,300 Palestinian prisoners were in Israeli jails, more than a third of them detained without charges.

Palestinian prisoners have routinely been tortured, sexually abused and even killed in custody, while attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have surged amid the mainstreaming of the far-right in the country. Israel has confirmed the identities of 86 Palestinian prisoners who died in its custody. On Sunday, the Israeli government approved the construction of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank in violation of international laws.

Numerous rights organisations have dubbed Israeli action in Gaza as an act of genocide, and the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes.

The violence has played out in tandem with ongoing deadly Israeli attacks in Gaza, in violation of the ceasefire signed in October, prompting warnings that they could jeopardise diplomatic efforts to advance to the second phase of the United States-brokered agreement. Israel has killed at least 400 Palestinians since the ceasefire pushed by US President Donald Trump came into effect on October 10.

Two killed in Gaza City

Meanwhile, a medical source at Gaza City’s al-Ahli Arab Hospital said two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on Sunday in the Shujayea neighbourhood in the east of the city.

The source said the killings took place near the so-called yellow line, demarcating territory under Israeli military control.

An Al Jazeera team on the ground reported that Israeli artillery shelling and helicopter gunfire were also targeting areas near Israeli positions east of Khan Younis, in the south of the Strip.

The latest killings in Gaza came a day after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Turkish state news agency Anadolu that Israel’s repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement are “creating major risks for transitioning to the second phase”.

Fidan’s comments came as he joined diplomats from the US, Egypt and Qatar in the US city of Miami to review the first phase of the agreement reached in October.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s Ministry of Interior and National Security said four people were killed when a three-storey house collapsed in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood on Saturday night.

The latest deaths brought the total number of people killed in such circumstances to 18 since the ceasefire came into effect in October.

The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza said on Sunday it had successfully rescued five people, including a child and two women, from the building.