A 17-year-old Palestinian teenager succumbed on Sunday morning to the wounds he sustained a few days ago near the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced.

The mayor of Silwad, Raed Hamed, said that the youth – identified as Ramzi Fathi Hamed – was shot by an illegal Jewish settler when he was in a car near the settlement of Ofra.

Medics said Hamed died of a severe pulmonary attack while getting treatment at a Ramallah hospital after he was shot by two bullets in the chest and belly.

Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.

Family and friends bid sad farewell to Ramzi Fathi Hamed, who was shot by a settler when he was in a car near the settlement of Ofra.#IsraeliCrimes pic.twitter.com/mDCZR3M2U8

— Wafa News Agency – English (@WAFANewsEnglish) August 7, 2023

“Jewish settler violence should not be analyzed separately from the violence meted out by the Israeli army, but seen within the larger context of the violent Zionist ideology that governs Israeli society entirely,” wrote Palestinian author and editor of The Palestine Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud.

“Settler violence has long since become part of Palestinians’ daily life under occupation,” according to the Human Rights Group B’tselem. “Israeli security forces enable these actions, which result in Palestinian casualties – injuries and fatalities – as well as damage to land and property. In some cases, they even serve as an armed escort, or even join in the attacks”.

Over 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law.

(PC, WAFA)