West Bank – Israeli Official: IDF Troops Mistakenly Shoot, Kill 14-year Palestinian Boy

West Bank – Israeli troops shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy early Tuesday in the West Bank and wounded four others, a Palestinian official said.

Wajih Ahmad, head of the Beit Ur al-Tahta local council, said the teen, Mahmoud Badran, was killed when the car he was traveling in was fired upon by an Israeli military patrol. The hospital in the West Bank city of Ramallah said another Palestinian was moderately wounded and three others were lightly wounded.

The military said it was responding to Palestinians throwing rocks and firebombs on vehicles on a busy road in the area in which that three civilians were hurt. It said Israeli forces tried to protect other vehicles and fired toward suspects. “From the initial inquiry it appears that un-involved bystanders were mistakenly hit during the pursuit,” the military said in a statement.

Over the past nine months, Palestinians have carried out dozens of attacks, including stabbings, shootings and car ramming assaults, which have killed 32 Israelis and two Americans. About 200 Palestinians have been killed during that time. Israel has identified most of them as attackers while the rest died in clashes with Israeli troops.

The assaults were once near-daily incidents but they have become less frequent in recent weeks.

Also Tuesday, the Israeli military demolished the home of a Palestinian who stabbed to death an American tourist and war veteran in an attack earlier this year.

The troops entered the West Bank village of Hajjah to knock down the residence of Bashar Masalha. In March, he killed Taylor Force and wounded 10 others in a stabbing attack on a Tel Aviv beachfront promenade.

Force was a Vanderbilt University graduate student visiting Israel during a school trip. He previously graduated from West Point and served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Masalha was killed by police after the attack.

Israel says it carries out housing demolitions to deter future attacks. The Palestinians consider it a form of collective punishment.