Palestinian boy killed during clash with Israeli troops in West Bank: Palestinians

Reuters
An Israeli soldier gestures at scene of a stabbing attack near Arroub refugee camp near the West Bank city of Hebron July 18, 2016. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Palestinian boy was killed on Tuesday during a clash with Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank on the outskirts of Arab East Jerusalem, the Palestinian health ministry said. Muhey al-Tabakhi, 12, died in a Palestinian hospital of a wound inflicted by a projectile that struck his chest and caused heart failure, a ministry spokesman said. An Israeli police spokeswoman said paramilitary Border Police officers used only tear gas and stun grenades in the clash at al-Ram after a petrol bomb was thrown at forces and that initial details at hand suggested there had been no firing. Earlier, a Palestinian assailant who stabbed two Israeli soldiers and wounded them lightly in an incident near the occupied West Bank town of Hebron on Monday, died of wounds in an Israeli hospital, officials said. Since October, Palestinian street attacks have killed at least 33 Israelis and two visiting Americans. Israel has killed at least 204 Palestinians, 138 of whom it said were assailants. Others were killed during clashes and protests. Palestinian stabbings, shootings, rock throwing and car rammings against Israelis that began late last year and included almost daily incidents have tapered off significantly and attacks have become less frequent. Palestinian leaders say assailants have acted out of desperation over the collapse of peace talks in 2014 and Israeli settlement expansion in occupied territory that Palestinians seek for an independent state. Most countries view the settlements as illegal. Israel disputes this. Israel says incitement in the Palestinian media and personal problems at home have been important factors that have spurred assailants, often teenagers, to launch attacks. Tensions over Jewish access to a contested Jerusalem holy site, revered by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and Jews as Temple Mount, have also fueled the violence. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, writing by Ori Lewis, editing by Larry King)