SW News: Tensions are simmering in the West Bank where in the latest incident a Palestinian teenage boy was shot dead by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). It was 17-year-old Hamzeh al-Ashkar who received a fatal bullet injury in the face in the city of Nablus early in the morning on Feb. 7 during a military raid.

An IDF spokesperson said that the boy was “armed and was firing on the forces”. Armed Palestinian hardline outfit the Lion’s Den confirmed the death of the teenager and revealed that he belonged to the Askar refugee camp. The outfit did not mention if he belonged to the group. It also said that some members were engaged in a gun battle with Israeli soldiers.

Earlier on Monday, in another raid in the West Bank, IDF personnel gunned down five Palestinian gunmen. The gunmen belonged to Hamas, an armed outfit that virtually controls the area. The outfit confirmed that its fighters were killed in an encounter with “the Zionist occupation”. The IDF confirmed that some armed men were neutralized in a raid on the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp which is near the border with Jordan. IDF said, “A number of armed assailants were killed after firing towards IDF soldiers who were operating in the area.”

Violence is at an all-time high in the West Bank after Israeli troops began conducting raids and combing operations to fish out those responsible for the shooting near Jericho last month. On January 28, two armed Hamas terrorists went to an Israeli restaurant near Jericho and opened fire. Luckily, the firearm malfunctioned after one bullet was fired and no one was injured. The assailants left the scene and since then, IDF personnel have been searching for them.
There are reports that a virtual blockade has been imposed on the city by IDF personnel as they attempt to flush out those responsible for the restaurant shooting.