Palestinian teen killed by Israel army in West Bank

Israeli security forces fire sound grenades at Palestinian demonstrators in the market in the old city center of the West Bank city of Hebron during a demonstration against the construction of an elevator at the Ibrahimi Mosque on 23 May, 2022AFP

A Palestinian teenager was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in clashes that erupted during a Jewish pilgrimage to the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry identified the youngster as Ghaith Yamin, 16, who died of a head wound "after being shot by Israeli forces" during clashes near Joseph's Tomb, outside the northern city of Nablus.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army, which provides security for monthly pilgrimages to the site, revered by Jews as the burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph.

The Islamic Jihad militant group issued a statement praising the "ambush" its fighters prepared for Israeli forces securing the pilgrimage, saying there was an exchange of fire between the two sides.

Tensions have been high in the West Bank for the past three months following a wave of attacks on Israelis that led to arrests and clashes.

Nineteen people, mostly civilians -- including 18 inside Israel and a Jewish West Bank settler -- have been killed in attacks in Israel by Palestinians and Israeli Arabs which began in late March.

Israeli security forces have responded with raids inside Israel and the West Bank, particularly in the flashpoint northern district of Jenin.

Three Israeli Arab attackers and a police commando have died.

Thirty-four Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank -- suspected militants but also non-combatants, including a journalist who was covering a raid in Jenin and bystanders.