SONNA – At least six people have been hospitalized, three with gunshot wounds, after Israeli forces opened fire on stone-throwing Palestinian youth during a raid by Israel into the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
A witness told the Reuters news agency that a large Israeli military convoy arrived in downtown Ramallah early on Thursday, the seat of the Palestinian government, leading hundreds of Palestinians to gather in the area.
Israeli forces, said to be on an operation to demolish a home in Ramallah, fired live bullets, stun grenades and tear gas at the crowd of Palestinian youths who hurled stones, the witness said, while video clips uploaded to social media purported to show molotov cocktails thrown at Israeli troops.
The Palestinian health ministry said at least six people were transferred to the hospital for treatment, including three who sustained gunshot wounds.
Reports on social media claimed that a Palestinian journalist was also shot by Israeli forces in Ramallah with some online commentators referencing the killing by Israeli forces of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022 while covering an Israeli raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
Israeli officials initially accused Palestinian fighters of fatally shooting the veteran reporter and it was not until months after Abu Akleh’s killing that Israel acknowledged that one of its soldiers was likely responsible. Israel dismissed the killing of Abu Akleh by one of its soldiers as unintentional and has not opened a criminal investigation. Abu Akleh’s family have submitted an official complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to demand justice for her death.
