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Israeli forces have shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank after a group of youths smashed a hole in the Israeli separation wall and started throwing objects at police.
The shooting, which took place in Azariyah, a village outside Jerusalem, marked the latest violence in what has been the deadliest year in the West Bank since 2015.
In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, thousands of supporters of the ruling Hamas militant group packed a football field they said was in solidarity with the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem during the Jewish holiday season.
Amateur videos shared on social media showed a group of masked youths gathering in front of a towering concrete barrier, chanting slogans, and forcing their way through the gate.
“Go forward our popular fans,” they chanted. “There was a hole in the wall and a patrol exploded.” Israeli paramilitary border police said troops shot and killed a protester who tried to throw Molotov cocktails at them as they came to disperse the demonstration. It said demonstrators threw rocks and explosives at them. The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the deceased as 18-year-old Fayez Damdoum.
Israel built the wall some 20 years ago as a security measure it said was designed to prevent attackers from entering Israel. But the barrier often extends into the West Bank, carving out nearly 10 percent of its territory.
Palestinians see the building as an illegal land grab and a symbol of Israel’s 55-year military occupation of the territory.
Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. About 700,000 Israeli settlers now live in both areas, which Palestinians claim is a future state.
Saturday’s killing came at a time of heightened tensions. Israel has been ramping up military activity in the West Bank, mainly in the northern cities of Jenin and Nablus, following a series of deadly Palestinian attacks in Israel last spring.
In Gaza, thousands attended Saturday’s rally, titled “Aqsa in Danger.” Hamas leaders, including its top official in Gaza, Yehia Sinwar, addressed the crowd from the stage.
Hamas had previously threatened violence in response to what it said was an “aggression” against Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa mosque during the Jewish New Year holiday.
Tens of thousands of Jews visit the city during the holidays, including a large number of people who visit the disputed hilltop compound where the mosque is located.
Jews revere the site as the Temple Mount, home of the biblical Jewish Temple, and consider it the holiest place in Judaism. The site is the emotional center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with competing claims often escalating into violence.
Under the long-standing arrangement, Jews were allowed to visit but not to pray at the site. In recent years, however, the number of tourists has surged, with some praying under police protection.
The scenes have raised concerns among Palestinians that Israel is plotting to split or take over the site – a claim Israel denies.
Rawhi Mushtaha, a member of the Hamas Politburo, said Israel’s approach was jeopardizing the mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.
“The act of occupation in Al-Aqsa, the West Bank and Palestine heralds a big explosion in Al-Aqsa,” he said.
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