Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian youth and wounded more than 10 others during clashes in the occupied West Bank, according to officials and health workers.
Saba Nidal Obaid, 20, was shot in the stomach near the village of Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah, during a protest on Friday in support of the 1,500 Palestinians on hunger strike across Israeli prisons, Aljazeera reported.
Obaid later died in a nearby hospital, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement. His funeral was scheduled to take place later on Friday.
Clashes were also reported near the Beita junction and Beit Furik checkpoint on Friday. A spokesperson for the Red Crescent told Aljazeera that Israeli forces were not letting ambulances through in Nabi Saleh and most of the wounded were taken to hospitals in private cars.
“It wasn’t easy for us to get through,” said spokesperson Arab Faqha, adding that Israeli forces even tried arresting one of the injured from the ambulances before letting the vehicle through.
“In Beit Furik, we also treated 10 people. Two of our ambulances were also attacked by the Israeli forces who shot rubber bullets and shattered one of the windows. One of the ambulances was carrying an injured demonstrator to the hospital.”
According to reports, Obaid is the 21st Palestinian to be killed by Israeli forces and settlers since the start of 2017.
Approximately 1,500 Palestinian political prisoners are in their fourth week of a hunger strike, risking their lives in hopes of gaining basic rights in Israeli jails.
Spread across several prisons in Israel, Palestinian prisoners embarked on the dangerous journey of an open-ended fast to pressure Israel, which is responsible under international law for the wellbeing of all persons in its custody, to improve prison conditions. The prisoners are surviving on saltwater only.
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