The fourth in four days: Israeli forces kill Palestinian teenager in occupied West Bank

Israeli forces killed on Tuesday a Palestinian teenager in a military raid near the refugee camp of Faraa, near the town of Toubas, northeast of the West Bank.

The Palestinian health ministry identified the victim as 17-year-old Mahmoud Aidi, a resident of the refugee camp of Faraa.

"Occupation forces raided the camp early before dawn and surrounded a house where they arrested a resident," Adnan Ghneimi, a Palestinian ambulance officer and resident of Toubas, told The New Arab.

"Young men threw stones at occupation forces who responded with live fire, so I rushed out with the medic team as we received news of the wounded," said Ghneimi.

"We met a taxi that was driving the wounded teenager, and we took him from the taxi into the ambulance," he added.

lsraeli occupation forces raid Tubas and shoot a Palestinian young man whose now in a critical condition. pic.twitter.com/Dx2uGkObrW

— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) February 14, 2023

"Mahmoud Aidi was critically wounded by a bullet in the side of the head, he was unconscious and choking in his own blood," described the ambulance driver. "There was little we could do, and when we arrived at the hospital he had already died."

"Mahmoud woke up very early like every day to reach his work on a farm near Jericho in the Jordan Valley," his uncle told TNA. "He was on his way to work when the occupation army entered the camp, and half an hour later residents called his father to tell him that he was wounded."

"He was a main provider for his family and helped his parents sustain his younger brother," the uncle said.

"He saved money and dreamed of building his own house and starting a family one day," his uncle added. "Both of his parents are in a state of shock."

BREAKING: Mahmoud Majed Aidi, a 17-year-old Palestinian teenager, just died of wounds sustained by Israeli gunfire last night during an Israeli military raid on Al-Far'a refugee camp, north of the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/LHtTMCIe3K

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) February 14, 2023

Mahmoud Aidi is the 11th Palestinian minor to be killed in 2023 by Israeli forces, and the second Palestinian to be killed on Tuesday.

An hour after Aidi was killed, 25-year-old Palestinian Haroun Abu Aram was pronounced dead after two years of struggling with wounds caused by Israeli forces in Masafer Yatta, in the south Hebron hills.

On Monday, Israeli forces also killed 27-year-old Ameer Bustami, in a military raid on the northern occupied West Bank city of Nablus, which residents described as "one of the most violent in months". The Israeli raid lasted for about four full hours and wounded three Palestinians more with live fire.

"At 1:00 am the occupation forces entered the city with a large number of military vehicles from two directions, and headed to the centre city," Ameen Abu Wardeh, a local resident and journalist, told TNA.

"Palestinian fighters engaged the occupation forces with local-made explosive devices and gunfire, and clashes extended for half a kilometre around the centre of the raid," said Abu Wardeh.

"The occupation forces shot large quantities of very strong tear gas and live fire in all directions," he described.

Scenes from the damage that Israeli occupation forces left after a military raid on Nablus, north of the occupied West Bank, last night. #FreePalestine #IsraeliCrimes #IsraeliTerrorism pic.twitter.com/SIvAG1W5H6

— Palestinian Eve Network+🇵🇸 (@PalEvePlus) February 13, 2023

"The young man who was killed, Ameen Bustami, worked as a delivery employee for restaurants on a motorcycle, and he was up late on a night shift near the restaurants' area when the raid began, and he was shot," he added.

Israeli media quoted the Israeli army claiming that its forces had arrested five Palestinians, two of whom it accused of being behind a shooting attack in October that killed an Israeli soldier north of Nablus, which at the time was acknowledged by the Nablus-based Palestinian 'Lions' Den' militant group as an act of armed resistance.

"Occupation forces surrounded a house where two of the men arrested were staying, but they withdrew briefly as clashes with Palestinian fighters intensified," Mohmmad Raei, a human rights activist in Nablus, said to TNA.

"About half an hour later, occupation forces returned to the house and used ground missiles against the house, and then arrested several Palestinians, while wounding several others, among whom was Ameer Bustami, who was wounded in the stomach, and died later in hospital," added Raei.

Watch: Israeli forces raid the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, sparking confrontations with #Palestinians youths, during which the soldiers killed one Palestinian and injured seven others.

Credit: Wafa News Agency pic.twitter.com/GMDA0o9CPh

— Wafa News Agency - English (@WAFANewsEnglish) February 13, 2023

"I was sleeping when the raid happened and I woke up to the sound of shooting, then I saw on social media the news that a young man from the Bustami was critically wounded," Ameer Bustami's father said to TNA.

"I was very anxious that it might be Ameer because he was working until late in the night that day, then I saw on social media that the wounded from the Bustami family worked on a delivery motorbike, and I knew it was him," the father said. "After the raid, he was pronounced dead at the Rafidia hospital in the city, and that's when I knew we lost him."

"Ameer was a very dedicated young man," Bustami’s father recalled. "He studied up to high school, then began to work driving for other people, saving to buy his own motorbike, and he was very happy the day he got his license."

"He thought of nothing else but work, in order to help me with the education of his two younger sisters," he added.

Israeli occupation forces shot and killed Palestinian youth Ameer Bustami during a military raid into Nablus. pic.twitter.com/RgNXookHBa

— Se𓂆ood . Rantisi 🇵🇸 (@sejood_khaled) February 13, 2023

Bustami's killing on Monday came one day after Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager in a military raid on the north West Bank city and refugee camp of Jenin that left three more wounded, including one in critical condition.

The Palestinian health ministry announced that the victim was 14-year-old Qusai Wakid, from the village of Al-Araqah, west of Jenin.

Residents told TNA that Israeli forces raided Jenin city and the refugee camp at around 1:00 pm from several sides, while Palestinian fighters confronted them with gunfire.

"The atmosphere in the refugee camp was already tense before the raid," Najat Butmeh, a resident of Jenin camp, told TNA.

"Fighters were searching every single car that came into the camp, expecting a raid by undercover occupation forces like what happened last month," she said. "When the occupation forces began to enter the camp and clashed with fighters, residents began to run into their homes."

"Although classes were interrupted, children were kept inside the school until the occupation forces withdrew," she added.

Yesterday Israel shot dead a 14 yr/o Palestinian kid Qusai Radwan Yousef Wakid.‼️‼️Who is going to stop Israel. pic.twitter.com/a8q29bxmvh

— Bint (@PalBint) February 12, 2023

"I was accompanying my husband to the Jenin Public hospital when the raid started, and later the wounded began to arrive. Family members followed and were very anxious, and staff ran left and right, a typical emergency situation at the Jenin hospital," she described. "One of the wounded was 14-year-old Qusai Wakid, who died of his wounds in the following hours."

“َQusai was a young boy who worked in a bakery, next to the Jenin refugee camp," his brother told the local Jenin TV channel.

"When the occupation raided the camp he often came out to look at events, and I kept telling him not to do that," said the brother. "This time, a bullet came towards him and killed him."

Meanwhile, the Israeli army said in a press release that it had arrested several Palestinians in Jenin during the raid, including Jebril Zubeidi, brother of Palestinian prisoner leader Zakariyah Zubeidi, accusing him of being a leader of the Jenin fighters.

Zubeidi's father told Palestinian media that Israeli forces called his son's wife, threatening to target the house if he didn't give himself up. "Jebril came out and gave himself in," said the father.

"He wasn't armed, because he is a regular civilian," the father added, denying Israeli accusations.

One day before the killing of Qusai Wakid, an armed Israeli settler killed 27-year-old Palestinian Mithqal Rayan, in the village of Qarawah Bani Hassan, west of Salfit, north of the West Bank.

The mayor of Qarawah Bani Hassan, Ibrahim Assi, said to Palestinian media that Rayan, a father of three young children, was shot by an Israeli settler while confronting a settler attack on his village.

The Palestinian killed Mithqal Salman Abdul Halim Rayan (25 years old) whilst being evacuated after being shot in the head. pic.twitter.com/DNEsGz6T3S

— Younis | يونس (@ytirawi) February 11, 2023

"Mithqal was coming back from work when settlers were attacking the village," his father told Palestinian media. "The mosque's loudspeaker was calling for people to help stop the settlers who had reached the houses, and Mithqal hurried with others to confront the settlers."

"As soon as he reached the confrontation site, an armed settler opened fire at him and shot him right in the head killing him instantly," detailed Rayan's father. "There weren't any soldiers, just settlers."

Israeli forces continue to conduct military raids against Palestinian cities and towns in the West Bank since the beginning of last year, killing at least 230 Palestinians. Since the beginning of 2023, Israeli forces have killed 50 Palestinians, including 11 children and teenagers, and one elderly woman.