Israeli soldiers fatally shoot Palestinian teenager in West Bank

Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian who allegedly was throwing firebombs at highway traffic in the West Bank on Friday night, news reports and sources said.

Urweh Hammed was shot and killed in the village of Silwad, north of Ramallah, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.

Palestinian witnesses said an Israeli army sniper shot Urweh during confrontations on the outskirts of the village. The witnesses, who refused to identify themselves for fear of being arrested by the army, said soldiers were hiding at a distance in the dark and it was not possible to see them.

The Israeli army said the teenager was getting ready to hurl a firebomb at a nearby highway when he was shot, according to Israeli news reports.

Urweh, who reportedly was born in New Orleans, went to live in the West Bank at a young age, according to family members.

A medical source at Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah said Urweh was hit in the neck and died on his way to the hospital.

Urweh is the second Palestinian teenager shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank in about a week.

Abukhater is special correspondent.