JERUSALEM: A Palestinian teenager was shot dead by Israeli forces on Saturday in the occupied West Bank, after a group of youth broke an Israeli secession barrier and began throwing objects at police.
The shooting took place in the village of Azariyah, which is close to Jerusalem, and was the most recent act of violence in the West Bank's deadliest year since 2015.
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An amateur video posted on social media shows a group of youths gathering in front of a huge concrete wall as they break down a gate. Our devoted followers, go ahead," he said. "A patrol bursts through a hole in the wall of the isolation."
Paramilitary border police in Israel claimed that when they arrived to disperse a demonstration, a protester tried to throw a firebomb at them and was shot by police.It claimed that the protesters attacked them with explosives and stones. The Palestinian Health Ministry has identified the deceased teenager as 18-year-old Fayaz Dumdoum.
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Israel reportedly built this barrier 20 years ago as a security measure to prevent attackers from entering Israel. However, the barrier often descends in the West Bank, taking up about 10% of its area. The building is seen as an illegitimate land grab by the Palestinians and a representation of Israel's 55-year military occupation of the region. In the 1967 Middle East conflict, Israel took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In the two places where Palestine claims the future state, about 700,000 Israelis are currently settled.
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The killing took place on Saturday at a time of rising unrest. Following deadly Palestinian attacks inside Israel last spring, Israel has increased military activity in the West Bank, mainly in the northern cities of Jenin and Nablus.