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Israeli troops have shot dead a Palestinian teenager and wounded four others as they returned from a swimming pool after apparently mistaking them for stone-throwers, sparking outrage and drawing renewed attention to rules governing the use of live ammunition.
Israeli troops have shot dead a 15-year-old Palestinian boy as he travelled home from a family outing, after opening fire in response to stone-throwing in which the boy had not been involved.
Palestinian officials condemned the shooting, saying the 15-year-old was “murdered” while travelling in a car with two brothers and two other teenagers in the occupied West Bank.
A preliminary investigation by the Israeli military found that the car the boy was travelling in had been “accidentally hit” as the soldiers chased Palestinian stone-throwers who had injured an Israeli bus passenger and two tourists in another vehicle. The shooting near the village of Beit Sira was angrily condemned by the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah.
Circumstances surrounding the incident were unclear and the Israeli army was investigating, but the military said it appeared those shot were “uninvolved bystanders”.
The military said that at around 1am firebombs and rocks had been thrown and oil spilled on to the busy Route 443 between Jerusalem and Modi’in. The road, which is often used as an alternative route between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, cuts through the occupied West Bank where it is overlooked at points by Palestinian villages.
The army said the overnight shooting followed stone-throwing at cars along a road that cuts through the West Bank for several miles on its way from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.
The Palestinian Authority, who named the dead boy as Rafat Badran, from the village of Beit-Uhr-Eh-Tahta, said that three other Palestinians also injured were treated at a medical centre in Ramallah, and a fourth wounded person had been taken to Israel for treatment.
Israeli media reported two foreigners and one Israeli were wounded by stone-throwing. The stone-throwers were also said to have hurled firebombs at passing cars and poured oil on the road.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted the boy’s father as saying that Rafat was travelling back with relatives, including the boy’s aunt, from a trip to a swimming pool in Beit Sira which had started after the fast-breaking Ramadan evening meal.
Israeli soldiers responded and opened fire on what they believed to be suspects, the army said, killing Mahmoud Rafat Badran, 15, and wounding the four others.
The road they had taken goes through an underpass under Route 443, he said, adding: “As they approached the passage, a car stood on the bridge, next to a man with a gun who opened fire on the vehicle. As far as I could understand, some of the passengers jumped out of the vehicle and some remained inside, and were hit, including my son who was very seriously wounded and died a short time later.
Two people were arrested, the military said.
“This was indiscriminate gunfire with the intent to kill and I demand that this incident be judged by the world court,” Mr Badran said. Saeb Erekat, general secretary of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, said that the boy had been “murdered” in a “cold-blooded assassination” as he was returning “from the only nearby swimming pool”.
The Israeli army initially released a statement saying troops had shot two people “after a number of Palestinians hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at moving vehicles near the village of Beit Sira on route 443”.
“An initial review suggests that as the mob continued, nearby forces acted in order to protect the additional passing vehicles from immediate danger and fired towards the assailants,” the army said.
“Forces confirmed hits resulting in the death of one of the attackers.”
Later, the army revised its account, with a spokeswoman saying that “from initial inquiry, it appears uninvolved bystanders were mistakenly hit during the pursuit”.
Asked by Agence France-Presse whether that included the person killed, she said yes, as well as those wounded.
During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, residents often go out and socialise late into the night following the end of the daytime fast.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation secretary general, Saeb Erekat, condemned the shooting, saying the teenagers were returning “from a visit to the only nearby swimming pool”.
Erekat said Badran had been “murdered” and called it a “cold-blooded assassination”.
Israel’s response to Palestinian stone-throwers has been the subject of debate, with rightwing politicians calling for looser open-fire rules and human rights groups warning of the dangers of such policies.
Related: Israel relaxes live-fire rules against Palestinian stone-throwers
Related: Israel relaxes live-fire rules against Palestinian stone-throwers
In September, the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, declared “war” on stone-throwers with tougher penalties and new rules for security forces on when to open fire. Lawmakers later voted to impose a minimum three-year jail sentence on stone-throwers.
New measures pushed through last year by the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, gave the security forces much greater latitude to use live ammunition against Palestinians throwing stones and firebombs. A minimum three-year jail sentence was later introduced for stone-throwers.
Netanyahu made the comments after a 64-year-old Israeli man died in an accident Israeli authorities said was caused by Palestinian stone-throwing.
The Israeli military also yesterday demolished the home in the West Bank village of Hajjah of a Palestinian, Bashar Masallha, who killed an American tourist and wounded 10 Israelis in a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv in March.
The incident preceded a wave of Palestinian unrest that began in October and which has included knife, gun and car-ramming attacks.
Violence since October has killed at least 209 Palestinians, 32 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese. Israeli authorities say most of the Palestinians were killed as they carried out such attacks.
Others were killed in clashes with security forces or by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
Also on Tuesday, Israeli forces demolished the home of a Palestinian who killed a US tourist and wounded several Israelis during a stabbing rampage in Tel Aviv.
An army spokeswoman said the Palestinian carried out the 8 March seafront knife attacks, which killed 29-year-old Taylor Allen Force and wounded at least 10 Israelis, as the US vice-president, Joe Biden, arrived for a visit.
The assailant was shot dead during the attack.
Netanyahu has expedited home demolitions of Palestinian attackers in an effort to deter violence. Human rights groups say the measure amounts to collective punishment, forcing families to suffer for the acts of others.
Peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.
In an attempt to revive the moribund process, France is seeking to convene an international peace conference later this year.
A meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday voiced support for the project, although Israel reiterated its objections, calling for direct negotiations.
