Israeli forces kill three teenage Palestinian cousins near West Bank settlement

Israeli forces killed three teenage Palestinian cousins on Friday night near a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Mohammed Abu Jahisha, Uday Abu Jahisha, and Ismail Abu Jahisha were shot by Israeli forces near the Adora settlement close to the city of Hebron, reported WAFA, the official news agency of the Palestinian Authority.

The three cousins were aged 15, 16, and 19 respectively.

The Israeli army claimed in a statement that it had killed three Palestinian "militants" who had staged a "terrorist infiltration" at the settlement.

Israeli forces later raided the homes of the slain teenagers in the town of Idhna and arrested Ismail Abu Jahisha's father, according to WAFA.

They also beat other family members of the killed teenagers and destroyed and seized some of their vehicles before making arrests in the nearby town of Surif.

In a separate incident in the West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said a man was killed after being severely beaten by Israeli forces in Zeita, north of the city of Tulkarm.

Israel has increased its violence in the West Bank since launching a war on Gaza on 7 October.

Almost 24,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its brutal air and ground operations on the Palestinian territory.

Prior to 7 October, Israeli forces had already been conducting deadly, near-daily raids in the West Bank.

The year 2022 had been the deadliest in the West Bank for decades, with more than 150 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces.

In a shocking spike, more than 500 Palestinians in the West Bank were killed by Israeli forces in 2023.

Some half a million settlers live in the West Bank, in settlements deemed illegal by international law.

There has been an "unprecedented" increase in the construction of settlements and related infrastructure in the West Bank since 7 October, the Israeli NGO Peace Now said earlier this month.