Israeli forces kill Palestinian boy in West Bank, health ministry says

Israeli forces have shot dead a 14-year-old Palestinian boy during an operation in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say.

Moataz Daghlas was killed on Monday evening in the village of Burqa, north-west of Nablus, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The Israeli military said soldiers identified "several terrorists who intended to hurl stones" in an area where stones had previously been thrown at Israeli vehicles. The soldiers fired towards them "to remove the threat", it added.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams treated two people with gunshot wounds, but that Israeli forces blocked their access to a third wounded person and detained three volunteer paramedics.

Moataz Daghlas's relatives said Israeli authorities were withholding his body.

Meanwhile, Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the two Palestinians wounded during the raid as a 17-year-old child, who it said was shot in the abdomen and pelvis, and a 19-year-old man, who was shot in the hand.

According to the UN, at least 98 Palestinians, including 22 children, have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the start of the year.

Six Israelis, both security forces and civilians, have been killed by Palestinians in the West Bank over the same period, it says.

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