15-year-old Shot Dead by Israeli Army, Palestinians Report

A 15-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces during confrontations in the West Bank late on Monday night, the Health Ministry in Ramallah reported.

According to Palestinian media, the Israeli army was conducting a raid in the Dheisheh refugee camp, south of Bethlehem, when the clashes broke out.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said that the youth, Adam Ayyad, was wounded in the chest by live gunfire. He was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Another Palestinian was lightly wounded during the raid.

Separately on Monday night, Palestinians and the Israeli army came to blows in the northern West Bank city of Nablus and the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Kafr 'Aqab.

This comes a night after two other Palestinians – a 17-year-old and 22-year-old – were shot dead by the Israeli military during clashes in the northern West Bank.

The Israeli army said it had entered the village of Kafr Dan to demolish the home of the family of the Palestinian who killed Major Bar Falah last year near Jalameh checkpoint.

A mourning strike was announced in Bethlehem on Tuesday following Ayyad's death.

Ayyad's friends published a handwritten letter he penned, in which he described the stifling reality of being a young Palestinian living under occupation: "I aspired to do many things, but I live in a reality in which it is impossible to fulfill anything. I am happy that at least one dream I can fulfill and that is to die as a martyr, because it's not death, it's pride because it's a message to the whole world that the compass needs to be pointed against the occupation," he wrote.