Palestinian teenager shot by Israeli troops in West Bank dies

Hundreds of Palestinians attended a funeral on Thursdayin the West Bank town of Beita, for a teenager who medical sources said had died after being shot byIsraeli soldiers during clashes in the town.

Mourners carried the boy's body on their shoulders, waved Palestinian flags, and chanted slogans, including "To Jerusalem we go, martyrs in millions."

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The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that 15-year-old Ahmed Bani Shamsa was shot in the head on Wednesday evening. His death was announced on Thursday at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus.

The Israeli military said a group of Palestinians approached the troops anda suspicious object was hurled at them, which exploded later. A soldier fired in the air and then shot the Palestinian who threw the object.

The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967 and, excluding annexed east Jerusalem, some 475,000 Israeli settlers now live alongside around 2.8 million Palestinians.

A Palestinian woman was also shot dead by Israeli troops on Wednesday, after what the army said was an attempt to ram Israeli soldiers with her car and attack them with a knife.

Local media identified her asMai Afana, 29, from the town of Abu Dis, just outside Jerusalem.

On Wednesday afternoon, Palestinian militants again launched incendiary balloons from Gaza, hours after Israel retaliated for earlier launches.

The violence in Gaza was the first between Israel and Hamas since a ceasefire took effect on May 21, ending 11 days of heavy fighting.

In recent years, Israel has seen a series of shootings, stabbings, and car-ramming attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians in the West Bank. Most have been carried out by Palestinians with no apparent links to organized militant groups.

Palestinians and Israeli human rights groups say the soldiers often use excessive force and could stop the assailants without killing them. In some cases, they say that innocent people have been identified as attackers and shot.

The Palestinians seek the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority exerts limited self-rule, as part of a future state along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Israel says Jerusalem is indivisible. Peace negotiations have stalled for many years.

(With inputs from agencies)