By Elham Asaad Buaras
London (The Muslim News): A 14-year-old Palestinian boy was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, while the death toll from Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza continues to climb.
The boy, identified as Yousef Fuad Abdulkarim Foqahaa, was killed on Monday evening near the northern entrance of Sinjil, a town northeast of Ramallah. According to his family and eyewitnesses, Yousef had gone out to buy bread and was walking home when Israeli soldiers opened fire from 20 to 30 metres.
Residents said there were no clashes or stone-throwing in the area at the time. “The army shot the child, stripped him of his clothes, and left him bleeding for some time before an army ambulance arrived and took him away,” local journalist Mohammad Ghafri told Anadolu Agency.
Witnesses said soldiers prevented anyone from helping the boy. After the shooting, they allegedly stormed a nearby house and deleted surveillance footage. The Israeli army later confirmed the killing but claimed the boy had thrown a Molotov cocktail — a claim multiple witnesses strongly denied.
Israeli authorities withheld Yousef’s body before eventually releasing it to his family.
His death brings the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, to at least 973, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 7,000 others have been injured in near-daily military raids or attacks by illegal settlers.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 51 people and wounded more than 500 in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The strikes targeted homes, shelters, and areas near food distribution sites across Rafah, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, and Jabalia.
In Jabalia, an airstrike on a house killed 16 people. A separate strike in the same town killed a woman inside her home. In Deir al-Balah’s Umm Zaheer area, an Israeli drone strike killed two civilians. Another attack in Khan Younis’s al-Amal neighbourhood killed one person and injured several others.
In Rafah, three Palestinians were shot dead while gathering to receive aid. Four others were killed in a strike near the Abu Sharekh Roundabout in northern Gaza. In the Bureij refugee camp, a municipal worker was killed, and two others injured, when their vehicle was struck. Off Gaza’s coast, Israeli naval fire wounded two fishermen. Another man died from earlier injuries while attempting to reach a food distribution point in Rafah.
Since the launch of the Israeli American Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s aid mechanism on May 27, at least 52 Palestinians have been killed and 340 wounded while trying to collect aid, according to the Gaza Government Media Office.
The mechanism bypasses the United Nations and directs Palestinians to Israeli-controlled collection sites, drawing increasing criticism.
On Sunday, nearly 50 people were killed and over 200 wounded when Israeli forces reportedly opened fire on crowds gathered at an aid site in the al-Mawasi area west of Rafah.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attacks. “It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,” he said, calling for an independent investigation and accountability for those responsible.
Now in its 20th month, the war has killed at least 54,470 Palestinians and injured more than 124,000 in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry. Entire neighbourhoods have been levelled, hospitals destroyed, and much of the population displaced. Famine-like conditions are widespread.
[Photo: Bodies of several members of the Al-Barsh family, relatives of Palestine Today TV journalist Ahmed Al-Barsh, are brought to al-Ahli Baptist Hospital after an Israeli airstrike targeted their home in the Jabalia area, Gaza City, Gaza, on June 02, 2025. The attack resulted in the loss of multiple lives, and grieving relatives gathered at the hospital to mourn their loved ones amid the ongoing escalation. Photojournalist: Dawoud Abo Alkas/AA]
