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This year is already the deadliest for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2005, with Israeli forces killing over 140 Palestinians. It is also the deadliest year for Palestinian children since 2015 with over 30 killed

By Peoples Dispatch

On Monday, November 22, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian youth, Mahmoud al-Saadi (18), and wounded at least four others during a raid at the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian youth killed by Israel

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Education, al-Saadi was a student of secondary school. He was shot and killed by Israeli forces while he was on his way to school. In some reports, al-Saadi’s age has been recorded as 17 years.

Israeli occupation forces were conducting yet another raid in Jenin on Monday. Dozens of armed vehicles stormed the camp in the morning and surrounded a house full of children and other occupants. The Israeli forces fired at them with live bullets and missiles.

While Israeli forces claimed that al-Saadi was killed in crossfire, this was disputed by eyewitnesses who claimed that he was standing on the street when he was shot by Israeli forces in the stomach, Al-Jazeera reported.

Al-Saadi’s funeral procession was attended by thousands of Palestinians who also observed a day of strike in Jenin to mourn his killing.

Al-Saadi was the second Palestinian youth killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in the last two weeks. On November 14, Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian girl Fulla Rasmi Mallouh in Ramallah. Israeli forces also attacked and gravely injured another Palestinian child near Hebron on Monday.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates issued a formal statement condemning the “field execution” of al-Saadi, saying, “this heinous crime committed by the occupation forces is an integral part of the daily series of killings against our people with the cover and approval” of the Israeli government.

Deadliest year for West Bank since 2005

Jenin and other parts of the occupied West Bank have been the target of repeated Israeli raids since March, in which scores of Palestinians, including journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, have been killed. With the increased number of raids and Palestinian resistance against them, the occupied West Bank has recorded the highest number of killings this year since the UN started collecting annual data in 2005.

Israeli forces have killed at least 140 Palestinians, including 30 children, in the West Bank already this year, Middle East Eye reported. The total number of Palestinians killed throughout all occupied territories – West Bank, Gaza, and Eastern Jerusalem – this year has reached 203.

According to the UN, nearly 9,000 Palestinians have been injured in Israeli aggression in the occupied West Bank alone.

On Monday, Israeli forces kidnapped three Palestinian children aged 13 and 14 from Nilin near Ramallah, Wafa news agency reported. According to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, Israel has arrested over 20,000 children from the occupied territories since 2000. The number has crossed 50,000 since 1967.

According to the Defense of Children International-Palestine, one of the seven Palestinian human rights groups shut down by Israel earlier this year citing their ‘terrorist’ connections, Israel has killed 521 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank between 2000 and November 15 this year.

Militarism and Foreign Policy