Investigation Demanded into Death of Palestinian Teen by Israeli Gunfire

Israeli soldiers and Palestinian mourners reportedly clashed Saturday at the funeral of a Palestinian teen who was reported to have been killed by Israeli troops during a West Bank demonstration the previous day. Ali Abu Aliya was shot in the stomach Friday and died later in a West Bank hospital. He was shot during a weekly protest in the al-Mughayyir village near Ramallah against a nearby settlement outpost. Israel’s military said it used riot dispersal methods after soldiers came under attack by rocks from the dozens of protesters. The military says it uses rubber-tipped bullets for such actions, while the family of teen said he was hit with live fire. The European Union delegation to the Palestinian territories called for an investigation into the incident and asked in a tweet: “How many more Palestinian children will be subject to the excessive use of lethal force by the Israeli security forces?” Meanwhile, US Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., called the teen’s death a grotesque state-sponsored killing,” and called for an investigation to ensure that “no US taxpayer-funded military aid to Israel provided material assistance enabling this taking of a child’s life.”