This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/world/middleeast/palestinian-teenager-is-fatally-shot-while-protesting-deadly-arson-attack.html

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Palestinian Teenager Is Fatally Shot While Protesting Deadly Arson Attack Censure and Clashes After West Bank Attack
(about 4 hours later)
RAMALLAH, West Bank — A teenager who was shot while protesting the arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler died from his wounds early Saturday, according to family members and residents. It was the sixth fatal shooting by Israeli security forces in recent weeks, and the latest death in a summer that has been marked by repeated and apparently escalating violence. JALAZOUN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank — Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli forces while thousands of Israelis flocked to rallies, all of them protesting an arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler — a rare instance of mutual shock in a land attuned to bitter violence.
The teenager, Laith al-Khaldi, 17, was shot Friday during a demonstration near Ramallah, one of many protests in response to the arson that appeared to quickly devolve into clashes. Jewish extremists are suspected in the firebombing of a house Friday morning in the West Bank hamlet of Duma, which killed an 18-month-old boy, Ali Dawabsheh, and severely wounded his parents and his brother. Israel’s president implored the country to consider how the attack on Friday morning could have happened; Palestinians pointed to a widespread sense of impunity among Jewish extremists.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said that soldiers had fired toward an “assailant” who had hurled a firebomb toward them. The spokeswoman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in accordance with military guidelines, said the shooting had been “in response to immediate danger.” Such extremists were suspected to have firebombed a house in the West Bank hamlet of Duma, killing an 18-month-old boy, Ali Dawabsheh, and severely burning his parents and 4-year-old brother.
Palestinians said the teenager had been at a demonstration near the town of Birzeit, near a military watchtower. It appeared that youths there had been hurling objects at military forces. A cousin of Mr. Khaldi, Issa al-Khaldi, described the teenager as quiet and said that it was unlikely that he had thrown anything at the soldiers. “A blatant disregard for the rule of law, for human dignity, for a love of mankind, for a love of Israel, and freedom of opinion has spread within us and is wreaking havoc,” President Reuven Rivlin of Israel said at a rally Saturday in Jerusalem.
On Saturday, hundreds of Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces on the main road near Duma. The soldiers fired tear gas at the demonstrators, and youths hurled rocks and projectiles in response, witnesses said. Later, Israeli forces fired rubber bullets and live rounds at the protesters. Israeli political leaders swiftly called the firebombing an act of terrorism, a term usually reserved for Palestinian attacks against Israelis. Editorials in the Israeli news media said that condemnation would not be enough.
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that about 200 protesters near Duma hurled rocks and rolled burning tires at Israeli forces, who closed the main road and three junctions in the area. “The accumulation of unsolved hate crimes in the weeks, months and years before the Dawabsha attack would strongly suggest that Jewish terrorism has not been a top priority for Israel’s security establishment,” David Horovitz, founding editor of The Times of Israel, wrote in an op-ed in the newspaper. He added, “We had better ensure we act to prevent more of the same and worse.”
Israeli forces have come under scrutiny for their use of live ammunition against Palestinians, but very few such shootings have led to prosecutions. Palestinians and their advocates say that has created a culture of impunity among Israeli forces. Palestinians said they were most angered that the assailants stood over the bodies of the couple as they burned, and did not save the children.
On Friday, soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in Gaza who appeared to have been trying to scale a fence into Israel. Last Monday, a Palestinian youth died after he was shot while trying to evade arrest by running across rooftops in the crowded refugee camp where he lived. By Saturday evening, some sought revenge. Assailants suspected to be Palestinians hurled firebombs toward a Jewish settlement in Hebron, causing a fire in a community center, Israelis and Palestinians said. No injuries were reported.
Earlier in July, Israeli forces killed a 53-year-old Palestinian man, Falah Abu Marya, who was shot in the chest as he threw objects at soldiers who were trying to arrest his son. The day before, Israeli military forces shot and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian during a raid in Burqin, a farming town in the northern West Bank. A military spokeswoman said Israeli forces had opened fire after Palestinians ignored an order to stop throwing rocks at them. Clashes erupted near Duma, where residents marched to a nearby main road to protest the attack in their village.
Israeli and Palestinian politicians called the arson in Duma a terrorist attack. Hebrew graffiti was found sprayed nearby, with “Revenge!” written on one wall next to a Star of David. Witnesses said they had seen two masked men watching nearby as the fire burned. Soldiers fired tear gas at the demonstrators, and youths threw rocks and projectiles. An Israeli military spokeswoman said about 200 protesters near Duma hurled rocks and rolled burning tires at the Israeli forces.
Members of the Dawabsheh family said the toddler’s father, Saad, 32; his mother, Riham, 27; and his brother, Ahmad, 4, were being treated for severe burns on Saturday morning in Israeli hospitals. Naser Dawabsheh, Mr. Dawabsheh’s brother, said that Riham Dawabsheh’s condition had worsened overnight. “People are angry,” said Yaser Dawabsheh, 53, a resident of the village, where many residents share the family name. “A child melted in a fire before their eyes, and they did nothing.”
Clashes also took place here in the Jalazoun refugee camp, near the Palestinian city of Ramallah. They followed the funeral of a teenager who died overnight from wounds suffered after he was shot in a protest Friday, where youths hurled rocks at Israeli forces.
Laith al-Khaldi, 17, was the sixth Palestinian to be fatally shot by Israeli security forces in recent weeks.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said soldiers fired at an assailant who had thrown a firebomb toward them. She said the shooting was “in response to immediate danger.”
Few shootings ever lead to prosecutions, and Palestinians and their advocates say that has led to a lack of accountability among Israeli forces.
“The Israeli government has given the opportunity for settlers and the army to attack, and that is making the lives of Palestinians hell,” said Ghassan Khatib, vice president of Birzeit University in the West Bank.