Palestinian child shot by Israeli forces in occupied West Bank dies

Mohammed al Tamimi; a Palestinian toddler who was shot by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank last week has died of his wounds. (Photo/Twitter)

A Palestinian toddler who was shot by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank last week has died of his wounds, Israeli hospital officials have said.

Mohammed al Tamimi was shot in the head last Thursday near his village of Nabi Salih while riding in a car with his father. He was airlifted to Israel's Sheba Hospital, which announced the two-year-old boy's death on Monday.

The Israeli military has said soldiers opened fire after gunmen in the area shot at a nearby Jewish settlement.

But the boy's father, Haitham al Tamimi, told The Associated Press that he had just buckled up his son in the car and they were driving to visit an uncle when the bullet struck. The father was also shot and treated at a Palestinian hospital.

The Israeli military has opened an investigation into the incident.

Rights groups, however, say that such investigations rarely lead to prosecution or disciplinary action against soldiers.

Growing military raids, illegal settlements

The shooting was the latest bloodshed in a more than yearlong surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli military raids into the occupied Palestinian Territories have picked up since Israel’s new far-right government took office in late December.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health says 158 Palestinians, including both fighters and civilians, had been killed by Israel in besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank in 2023. Another Palestinian was killed in southern Israel by a rocket fired from Gaza.

Israel's Foreign Ministry says 20 Israelis, one of whom was killed by a rocket fired from Gaza, a Ukrainian, and an Italian have been killed by Palestinian attacks in the same period.

Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, along with Gaza, in the 1967 Mideast war.

Some 700,000 Israelis now live in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem. The settlements are illegal under International Law, but Israel has continued their expansion.

Source: TRT