Palestinian youth shot dead by Israeli troops during protest

The youth died at a West Bank hospital, just hours after the clash with Israeli troops near Ramallah, said Palestinian hospital officials.

The confrontation was one of three in a matter of hours in which Palestinians were killed on one of the most tense days in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip in recent months.

The Palestinian youth was fired upon by Israeli soldiers after he threw a fire-bomb at them, the military said.

The clash came after an 18-month-old Palestinian boy was killed on Friday in a house fire in the West Bank village of Duma, near Nablus, that was thought to have been started by Jewish settlers.

His parents and a sibling are in critical condition in Israeli hospitals, according to officials.

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers also shot dead a Palestinian teenager on Friday near the border fence in the northern part of the coastal territory, according to Palestinian medical officials.

Israeli troops on Saturday used riot dispersal techniques to break up clash in the West Bank between Israel settled and Palestinians, according to the Israeli army.

Stones were thrown, but no casualties or arrests were reported.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official in Nablus who monitors settlement activitiy, said the settlers attacked farmers working their land in Kusra village.

Friday's arson attack drew anger and widespread condemnation from Palestinian and Israeli leaders, who denounced it as an act of terror.

The United Nations, United States, European Union and other countries also denounced the attack and called for calm.

A statement from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's office said that after meeting with senior officials, they had called for United Nations protection.

'We must reinforce and activate people and peaceful resistance on all levels and on all tracks in order to confront and deter the terror of settlers who are protected by [Israel],' the statement said.

The Israeli anti-settler group Peace Now has called for an emergency protest rally to be held in Tel Aviv.

(dailymail.co.uk)