A Palestinian teenager was killed on Monday (April 10th) during an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank, a new stage in the escalation of violence in the region in recent days.

The Israeli military said in a brief statement that "security forces were conducting an operation in Aqabat Jaber," a refugee camp near Jericho in the occupied West Bank, without immediately giving further details.

The Palestinian ministry later announced the death of 15-year-old Mohamed Fayez Balhan, "killed by live ammunition from the occupation" after being shot in the head and chest, according to a statement.

The operation comes a day after the funeral of two young Israeli women murdered Friday in a Palestinian attack in the Jericho area.

Rising tensions

Security tensions have been on the rise since Israeli forces erupted Wednesday at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site, prompting a series of international condemnation.

Deadly attacks, rocket fire from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, followed by Israeli retaliation, have tarnished the festive mood marking the celebrations of Passover, Passover and Ramadan.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces twice raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque and dislodged worshippers gathered for night prayers in the middle of Ramadan. Israel says security forces were "forced to act to restore order" in the face of "extremists" barricaded in the mosque with stones and fireworks flares that were used against the police during their assault.

The next day, about thirty rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, injuring one person and causing material damage. The Israeli army responded with strikes on Gaza and southern Lebanon.

And on Friday night, Israel announced the mobilization of reserve police units and military reinforcements, after a car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv killed an Italian tourist, and the death of two Israeli sisters aged 16 and 20 in an attack in the West Bank.

"If one of the terrorists thinks that during the holiday season he will be able to evade the security forces, he is mistaken. Anyone who acts against us, we will settle their account," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Twitter on Sunday.

March for the legalization of a colony

Separately, hundreds of Israelis took part in a march to Eviatar, a settlement not recognized by Israeli authorities in the northern West Bank, on Monday to demand its legalization, an AFP journalist said.

Several ministers and MPs are expected, including Public Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. The latter, a supporter of the settler cause in the West Bank, said in a video released by his office that Israel "does not capitulate to terrorism, neither in Eviatar nor in Tel Aviv."

Rivka Katzir, 74, a resident of Elkana settlement, who attended the march, told AFP that "the only solution for all these problems is to settle here" in Eviatar.

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In 2021, several Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the village of Beita, near Eviatar, during protests against the settlement installation.

Since the beginning of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of at least 94 Palestinians, 18 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli and Palestinian sources.

These figures include, on the Palestinian side, combatants and civilians, including minors, and on the Israeli side, the majority of whom are civilians, including minors, and three members of the Arab minority.

With AFP

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