Israeli forces kill Palestinian teenager, detain relatives

The 17-year-old Qassim Mohammed Ali al-Abbasi, from the Silwan neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, was killed by Beit El checkpoint north of al-Bireh during a car ride with his relatives.

His family told local outlet Silwanic that Israeli authorities invoked a blackout on the identity of the victim after he was killed. Media outlets had initially mistakenly named another person as a victim.

His three relatives who were in the car with him have been lightly injured and were treated in hospital but were subsequently detained.

They were identified as Mohammed Hani al-Abbasi, Mahmoud Ma’moun al-Abbasi and Mohammed Ma’moun al-Abbasi.

Shortly after the murder was announced, residents of Silwan gathered at the deceased’s household, located south of al-Aqsa Mosque, to pay respects to his family as per tradition.

However, corpse is allegedly being held by Israeli forces, a common tactic deemed by Palestinians as an inhumane form of psychological warfare and collective punishment.

Silwan residents paid tribute to al-Abbasi on local social media groups. “May God grant him paradise and forgive him,” one of his relatives said.

The Israeli army claimed al-Abbasi was killed because his vehicle had attempted “to break through a military barrier in the Ramallah region”. His family deny this claim.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem deemed illegal under international law.