Israel Defense Forces and Border Police troops on Saturday killed a Palestinian teenager trying to infiltrate the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar while carrying a Molotov cocktail and a knife. He was later identified by his parents, who said he was 14. In that case he should have been home doing his homework instead of skulking around with a Molotov cocktail.
The Palestinian approached the area by car. He then got out of the car and advanced toward Yitzhar by foot, intending to throw a Molotov cocktail at the West Bank settlement. Soldiers manning an IDF observation post saw him in action and directed ground troops to the area. When the Palestinian noticed the Israeli forces he lit the Molotov cocktail and aimed it at them. In response, the soldiers shot and killed him. A subsequent search of his body revealed a knife.
The boy, Suhayeb Saleh, was from the village of Assira al-Kubliyeh, near Yitzhar. His parents identified his body at a nearby hospital. An IDF spokesman said it did not know how far the boy was from the soldiers or the settlement.
Suhayeb's parents said his older brother was killed by IDF troops in 2002, after he opened fire on an army patrol near Yitzhar and wounded four soldiers.
No further casualties or damage were reported in the incident. IDF troops in the area have been on high alert since last week's infiltration of Yitzhar by a Palestinian militant, an incident which sparked a settler rampage in the nearby Palestinian village of Assira al-Kubliyeh. During the infiltration last Saturday, a 9-year-old boy was lightly wounded when he was stabbed in the hand.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared after the incident last week that Israel's government will not allow settlers to carry out "pogroms against non-Jews in the State of Israel."