A Palestinian boy has died after being shot by Israeli border police during clashes at the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, the first such fatality in the Israeli-annexed territory during Ramadan. The child, reported as being 12 or 13 years old and named Rami Hamdan al-Halhouli by local media, suffered a fatal gunshot wound amid unrest between residents and police.
Israeli border police said violent riots broke out for a second consecutive night, and an officer fired a single shot at a suspect who “endangered the forces while firing aerial fireworks in their direction”. The suspect was apprehended and transferred for medical treatment, but later died from his wounds. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported treating five people injured by Israeli fire.
Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, said he backed the police and saluted the officer, stating: “This is exactly how you should act against terrorists – with determination and precision.” Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stripped Ben Gvir of responsibility for policing Ramadan after the minister proposed banning Muslim worshippers from the al-Haram al-Sharif compound during the holy month.
In separate incidents, two other Palestinians were killed and three injured after being shot by Israeli forces at a checkpoint near Al-Jib, west of Jerusalem. Israeli security personnel were wounded in a stabbing attack by a 15-year-old Palestinian boy near a checkpoint between Jerusalem and Bethlehem; police said they shot and killed the attacker. Another Palestinian was killed in a dawn raid in Jenin, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank within hours to six.
The violence comes amid heightened tensions during Ramadan, with no ceasefire in Gaza. The war, triggered by Hamas's October attack on southern Israel, has killed over 31,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and left much of the territory in ruins. Violence in the West Bank has escalated since the start of the war.
