A Palestinian boy has died after being shot by Israeli border police at a refugee camp in East Jerusalem in the first such fatality in the Israeli-annexed territory during Ramadan.
The child – who was variously reported as being 12 or 13 years old – suffered a fatal gunshot wound during clashes between residents of the Shuafat refugee camp and police.
In a statement, Israeli border police said violent riots broke out in the camp for the second consecutive night and that during the unrest, a single shot was fired by an officer towards a suspect “who endangered the forces while firing aerial fireworks in their direction.”
“The suspect was apprehended, arrested, and transferred for medical treatment,” the statement said. Police later told the AFP news agency that the boy had died from his wounds.
Hundreds of extra police have been deployed in the Old City of East Jerusalem since Ramadan began on Monday.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said it treated five people wounded by Israeli fire.
Israel’s border police units were already deployed in the camp, which sits between East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
In a separate incident west of Jerusalem in the town of Al-Jib, at least two other Palestinians were killed and three others injured after being shot by Israeli forces at a checkpoint late on Tuesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
