Israel shoots nine-year-old boy, detains Palestinian teenagers during weekend West Bank sweep

Israel shot a nine-year-old boy and detained 11 Palestinians on Sunday alone across raids in the occupied West Bank.

2 min read

17 February, 2020

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 [Getty]

A nine-year-old Palestinian boy may lose his eye after he was shot by Israeli forces outside a refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem.

Malek Issa was on Saturday shot by occupying Israeli forces whilst walking home from school yesterday in Issawiya neighbourhood of the occupied city.

Meanwhile, occupying Israeli forces detained 11 Palestinians, including minors, during raids in different cities across the the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS) has said.

According to their statement, Israeli soldiers abducted four Palestinians from Bethlehem, three from Hebron, and one from Jenin.

Among those detained in Hebron was a 17-year-old teenager.

Israeli forces detained three Palestinians teenagers in East Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood. They were identified as Senan Awwad, 17, Abdullah Taha, 17, and Urabi Gheith, 14.

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The latest arrests brings the number of Palestinians detained by occupying forces over the weekend to 19 people, according to Palestinian Authority's official news agency Wafa.

Over half-a-century of illegal occupation

Israel has occupied the West Bank illegally since 1967, and commits various abuses against Palestinian civilians, human rights groups say.

More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in constructions considered illegal under international law.

The Oslo agreement of 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three: Area A, Area B and Area C.

Area A is under the administrative and security control of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Area B's administration is controlled by the Palestinian Authority, with Israel controlling security. Area C is under full administrative and security control of Israel.

Israeli forces and settlers routinely harass Palestinians in the occupied territories through harming and killing civilians, demolishing homes, poisoning livestock, vandalising property and other forms of violence.

Israel often forces Palestinians to demolish their own homes under the pretext of not having a building permits.

Applications for building permits often take years to be processed, giving Israeli courts a loophole to increase Palestinian home demolitions by branding structures as "illegal".