Israeli forces shoot dead ten-year-old Palestinian boy
According to the reports, the incident occurred in the village of al-Rihiya, south of Hebron.
A 10-year-old Palestinian boy has been killed by Israeli forces in a village south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
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The Israeli military says its soldiers opened fire on Thursday in response to "confrontations and rock-hurling" directed at them.
Al-Rihiya residents say that Muhammad al-Hallaq and his friends had been playing football in a local schoolyard when they saw Israeli military vehicles and began to run.
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The official Palestinian Authority news agency WAFA claimed that troops opened fire on a group of children while they were playing soccer on a school playground and that Al-Hallaq was struck in the pelvis.
He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead.
The Israeli army said: "IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers responded with fire toward the suspects in the rock-hurling. Hits were identified. No IDF injuries were reported, and the incident is under review."
The IDF did not directly acknowledge the reports that the boy was killed.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have arrested some 6,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas. Nearly 1,000 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in the same period.
The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists carrying out attacks.
According to figures from the UN's humanitarian office (OCHA), some 200 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the start of the year, including about 40 children.