The boy died after arriving at a hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, the Palestinian health ministry reported. He was shot in the Dheisheh camp during an Israeli military raid, according to the Palestinian WAFA state news agency. The Israeli military stated that a Palestinian was killed after soldiers opened fire during a violent riot in which stones were thrown at soldiers near Bethlehem, but it did not specify the identity of the deceased.
The reason for the Israeli forces' presence in the area near Bethlehem remains unclear. This was the third reported Palestinian killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces on Friday, multiple reports indicate. Earlier that day, two Palestinian men were shot dead by Israeli forces, the Palestinian WAFA state news agency said.
In Gaza, one man was killed in an air strike on a car in the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza, Palestinian health officials confirmed. Additionally, two adult brothers were killed in Shujiaya, a neighbourhood east of Gaza City, medics reported. The brothers died in an air strike by the Israeli military after an Israeli-backed Palestinian militia in Gaza had tried to abduct them, according to the Hamas-affiliated Shehab News Agency.
Neither Hamas nor any other militant group has identified the brothers as members, leaving their affiliation or background unknown. Witnesses told Reuters that the two brothers, armed with guns, clashed with the militia and were later targeted by drones, and they also reported Israeli tanks opening fire. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the two air strikes in Gaza, and the specific circumstances leading to the clash between the brothers and the militia remain unclear beyond witness accounts.
Health officials in the territory stated that at least 40 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since the Iran conflict began a month ago.