World News | Palestinian toddler seriously injured in West Bank, Israeli military says shooting was unintentional

JERUSALEM, June 2 (AP) — A 3-year-old Palestinian boy was in critical condition at an Israeli hospital Friday morning after being hit by Israeli artillery fire in the occupied West Bank. The military launched an investigation into what it said was an unintentional shooting.

Gunmen opened fire on the West Bank settlement of Nevez Tzuf late Thursday, the military said in a statement. Soldiers at a guard post returned fire, it said.

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Moments later, Israeli medics received reports that a Palestinian man and a child had been seriously injured.

The man was rushed to a Palestinian hospital, while the baby was airlifted to Sheba Hospital in Israel after being rescued by Israeli medical staff. The hospital said the boy was in critical condition.

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The military released a blurry video showing the gunmen opening fire on the settlement and said it was looking for them.

But it said it was reviewing the incident and said it “regrets the harm caused to non-combatants” and that it “does everything it can to prevent such incidents from happening”.

The shooting was the latest bloodshed in a more than year-long surge in violence in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Fighting has intensified since Israel’s new far-right government took power in late December.

Nearly 120 Palestinians have been killed in the two regions this year, nearly half of them members of armed militant groups, according to an Associated Press tally. The military said the number of militants was much higher. But youths who threw stones and those not involved in the violence were also killed.

Meanwhile, Palestinian attacks against Israelis in these areas have killed at least 21 people.

During the 1967 Middle East war, Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians seek these territories for a future state.

Some 700,000 Israelis currently live in settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Most of the international community considers these settlements to be illegal or an obstacle to peace. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)