Israel forces wound Palestinian boy with rubber-coated bullet

Israeli forces reportedly shot and wounded a Palestinian child with a rubber-coated bullet in the occupied West Bank on Saturday.

The boy, aged 12, was hit in the neck in Kafr Qaddum, a town near Nablus, according to sources cited by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. It happened as confrontations took place between Palestinians and the Israeli raiders, the sources said.

The child was taken to a hospital in Nablus – a city which itself has faced repeated and often deadly Israeli army aggression in recent months.

The shooting came amid a period of intense violence by Israeli forces and settlers, who have killed more than 100 Palestinians so far this year.

On Saturday, two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces during a raid on Nur Shams refugee camp near the city of Tulkarm.

The Palestinian health ministry identified them as Samer Salah Al-Shafii and Hamza Jamil Kharyoush, both aged 22.

One Palestinian was injured but was in stable condition, the ministry said on Facebook.

Al-Shafii had been hit in the neck, chest and abdomen while Kharyoush was struck in the chest, abdomen and left leg, it said.

The Israeli army said the two men killed were "involved in the shooting attack in Avnei Heftz on 2 May 2023, during which an Israeli civilian was injured".

Avnei Heftz is a settlement in the West Bank deemed illegal under international law.

The Tulkarm Brigade, a local militant group linked to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, the armed wing of the ruling Fatah party, claimed the two Palestinians killed as members.

Agencies contributed to this report.