17-year-old Palestinian Killed in Clashes With Israeli Forces in West Bank

A 17-year-old Palestinian was killed by live Israeli fire in clashes in the Jenin area that erupted after the military demolished the home of one of the Palestinian attackers convicted of a deadly shooting attack last year.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Muhammad Akram Ali Tahr was killed by a gunshot wound to the head fired by Israeli forces. The ministry reported 11 more Palestinians were wounded. The Red Crescent said two of them were in serious condition.

The IDF said soldiers were attacked with rocks and Molotov cocktails, and responded with crowd control measure and live fire. A Palestinian organization reported its fighters shot at the IDF forces as they entered the village of Silat al-Harithiya north of Jenin.

A military court filed indictments against three Palestinians, residents of the West Bank village of Silat al-Harithiya, earlier this month for the murder of Yehuda Dimentman in December near the evacuated West Bank settlement outpost of Homesh.

Among them are brothers Omar and Rayat Jaradat, aged 20 and 17. They were arrested in their home in Silat al-Harithiya in the Jenin Governorate in December. Their uncle, Salah Jaradat, was a prominent Islamic Jihad member in Jenin who was killed by IDF fire in 2003.

Their mother will also be charged with failing to prevent an attack, giving shelter to a criminal, arms dealing and incitement.

According to the indictments, the suspects deliberately planned to murder Jewish settlers, and two of them had also made plans to abduct and hide the body after the attack.

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The indictment also states that the minor had told his mother they were planning a shooting attack, were buying guns for it and had already conducted a preliminary tour of the venue including their escape route. After the attack, the mother was interviewed in the media and praised her sons’ actions.

Homesh was evacuated as part of the 2005 disengagement plan, which removed all settlements in the Gaza Strip plus four in the West Bank, but shortly thereafter, settlers returned to the site and built the Homesh Yeshiva.

The yeshiva is effectively an outpost with a small number of students who divide their time between Homesh and the nearby settlement of Shavei Shomron. Dimentman, who lived in Shavei Shomron, was a student there.

Israelis are barred from entering the razed settlement by law, so the outpost’s buildings are demolished every few months. The Civil Administration in the West Bank broke up the road to Homesh to prevent the settlers from returning, but the yeshiva students returned regardless.