Israel kills Palestinian teen in Rafah

Palestinian medics on Wednesday named the teenager as Mustafa al-Hams, saying he had been fatally hit in the head when Israeli troops opened fire towards the camp following an explosion that damaged a nearby military position on the Israeli-controlled Gaza-Egypt border. 

The latest death brings the number of people killed since the beginning of the intifada, 38 months ago, to 3647- including 2727 Palestinians and 854 Israelis. 

An army spokesman said Palestinians had attempted to “sabotage” a position with “two powerful explosive devices hidden inside a tunnel.” There was no report of casualties on the Israeli side.

More raids

The military wing of the Islamic group Hamas, the Ezzedin Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that it had “blasted” an Israeli army watchtower, which led to “deaths and damage”. 

Meanwhile, one Palestinian, aged 14, was injured in the West
Bank refugee camp of Balata near Nablus on Wednesday evening, while an official from the armed group Hamas was injured and then arrested during an Israeli invasion in Jenin, security sources said. 

A dozen other Palestinians were also arrested near Nablus
on Wednesday evening by the Israeli army, they added.

Outpost rebuilt

Meanwhile, Jewish settlers announced on Wednesday that they had rebuilt an uninhabited outpost in the northern West Bank which the army dismantled two days ago.

Jewish settlers set up an Israeli flag in the Migron settlement

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz last week announced that eight outposts deemed illegal by Israel would be removed as an attempt to comply with the internationally-backed roadmap peace blueprint. 

Havat Shaked, which consists of little more than one prefab building on a hilltop, was the first to be dismantled on Monday. 

A handful of radical young settlers had then briefly resisted
the 20 policemen tasked with dismantling the outpost. 

Illegal settlements

According to the settlement watchdog Peace Now, there are 103 outposts in the West Bank, 56 of which were set up after Sharon was elected. 

But upon endorsing the roadmap at the 4 June Aqaba summit in Jordan, Sharon only committed himself to dismantling what he called “unauthorised outposts”. 

While the “rogue” or “wildcat” outposts are established by
settlers on their own initiative, without any prior government
authorisation, most are nevertheless approved later. 

All settlements, whether authorised or not by the government, are considered illegal by the international community.