JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli shooters killed two Palestinian teenagers in separate incidents in the West Bank.
One teen was killed Jan. 27 near Hebron when a group of Jews hiking and touring the area reportedly fired into a group of Palestinian youths who had begun to throw rocks at the group. Four Israelis were arrested in the incident.
The hike was not coordinated with the Israeli military, which took more than 30 minutes to arrive at the scene of the attack.
A day earlier, a Palestinian teen was shot to death after clashes between a settler and a group of Palestinians throwing rocks near Nablus. The settler fired into the air after the rock throwing started, eventually firing into the crowd as the attack continued, according to Haaretz.
The shooter has not yet been identified. Police have determined that the settler acted in self-defense after viewing a security video and questioning witnesses.
Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer on Friday called on the police to "collect most of the weapons held by settlers and act with an iron fist against any trigger-happy citizen who kills Palestinians for no reason."
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.