UPDATE - Palestinian death toll from Israeli fire in West Bank rises to 54: Health Ministry

UPDATES WITH INCREASED DEATH TOLL IN WEST BANK, ADDS DETAILS; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE

By Qais Omar Darwesh Omar and Hamdi Yildiz

JERICHO, Palestine (AA) – A total of 54 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army gunfire in the occupied West Bank since last Saturday, according to its Health Ministry.

The latest casualty was a Palestinian boy, 15-year-old Omar Asmar, who was seriously injured by Israeli soldiers opening fire in the West Bank city of Tulkarm on Friday, and who died at Ibn Sina Hospital where he was taken for treatment, said the ministry.

Earlier Saturday, it announced that another Palestinian was killed by Israeli soldiers’ gunfire in the city of Jericho in the West Bank.

Mahmud Shahade, 27, was taken to Jericho State Hospital after being shot in the head but doctors could not save him, said the ministry, bringing the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since Oct. 7 to 52.

There was tension between Israeli soldiers and dozens of young Palestinians in the Uqbat Jaber Refugee Camp near Jericho, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.

Israeli soldiers intervened with tear gas and then live ammunition, leading to Shahade being fatally shot.

Israeli forces also carried out raids in local refugee camps and did house-to-house searches.

The latest conflict began a week ago when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood – a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea and air.

Hamas said the operation was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip.

That response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening the living conditions in an area that endured a crippling siege since 2007, as well as ordering over a million Gazans to evacuate from the strip’s north to the south in less than 24 hours.