Tuqu’ /PNN/ West Bank / PNN / 

Israeli occupation forces “IOF” and settlers killed a Palestinian child and a young man within 24 hours in the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem, Palestinian officials and local sources said.

Settlers shot and killed 19-year-old Moheeb Ahmad Jibreel on Tuesday afternoon after a settler opened fire in the town, east of Bethlehem.

Tuqu’ Mayor Mohammad al-Badan said the killing occurred shortly after mourners had dispersed following the funeral of 16-year-old Ammar Sabah. A group of youths remained near the town’s northern entrance when a settler got out of his vehicle and opened fire directly at them, killing Jibreel and seriously wounding another young man.

Al-Badan said Jibreel was the second Palestinian killed in Tuqu’ in less than 24 hours amid what he described as escalating attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against residents. He called on the international community to intervene urgently to provide protection for Palestinians and to halt the ongoing killings of civilians.

Earlier, 16-year-old Ammar Yasser Sabah Taamreh was killed late Monday after being shot by Israeli forces during a raid on Tuqu’, southeast of Bethlehem, local sources said.

They said Israeli soldiers shot Taamreh in the chest with live fire during the incursion. The army fired live ammunition indiscriminately, the sources said, wounding the teenager. Medical teams transported him to the town’s clinic, where he was pronounced dead, before his body was transferred to Beit Jala Governmental Hospital.

Local sources said clashes erupted in the town, during which Israeli forces fired live ammunition as well as tear gas and sound grenades, causing several cases of suffocation.

Speaking at Beit Jala Governmental Hospital, Taamreh’s mother told PNN that her son had told her he might be killed before leaving the house. She expressed her grief as she bid farewell to him.

Hatim al-Sabah Taamreh, the boy’s uncle, told PNN that Tuqu’, like other Palestinian towns and cities, is being targeted with killings and displacement as part of what he described as a policy pursued by the Israeli government and its ministers, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He said Israeli forces carry out daily raids on the town, firing live ammunition and tear gas, and that his nephew was shot in the chest during one such incursion. He added that Ammar was an 11th-grade student who rejected the occupation and dreamed of a better future in his homeland.

A local source said Israeli forces later raided the home of Ammar Yasser Sabah, who was killed by Israeli fire the previous night, and threatened his family without reporting any arrests.

Witnesses said Israeli forces surrounded worshippers inside Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque in the town centre during evening prayers on Monday, preventing them from leaving while firing tear gas.