Israeli army admits killing Palestinian boy in West Bank

By Abdel Raouf Arnaout and Mohammad Sio

JERSUSALEM/ISTANBUL (AA) - The Israeli army acknowledged on Friday that it killed an 11-year-old Palestinian boy in southern occupied West Bank on Thursday, claiming the incident occurred “outside open-fire regulations,” Israel's public broadcaster KAN reported.

The boy, Mohammad Bahjat al-Hallak, was shot in the pelvic area in the town of ar-Rihiya, south of Hebron, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which confirmed his death from an Israeli bullet.

The Israeli broadcaster said the commander of a battalion stationed in the southern West Bank “conducted a preliminary investigation,” and the killing occurred during what the military described as “disturbances and stone-throwing toward Israeli forces.”

The investigation found “deviation from open-fire regulations, with improper use of weapons,” and indicated that “this is the second incident of shooting outside the rules by the same unit,” without providing details about the first incident.

Palestinian sources told Anadolu that al-Hallak was playing soccer in the village field when Israeli forces entered, firing bullets and tear gas indiscriminately at civilians.

Local authorities say more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, around 10,000 wounded, and over 20,000 arrested, including 1,600 children, since the Gaza war in October 2023. The war was halted after a ceasefire reached earlier this month, based on US President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.