Palestinian teen was shot as he tried to enter occupied East Jerusalem for Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

A Palestinian teenager was shot dead by Israeli forces as he tried to enter occupied East Jerusalem to offer Friday prayers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Local media identified him as 16-year-old Abdullah Loay Ghaith from the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.

According to Palestinian news agency WAFA, Israeli soldiers stationed near the Palestinian village of Dar Salah, east of Bethlehem, fired at Ghaith.

https://twitter.com/qudsn/status/1134365047017398272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Translated tweet: “The young martyr Abdallah Ghaith, who rose after the occupation forces fired at him near the # Bat_ham [The Martyr of the Maximum] as he tried to reach the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said the teenager was killed with a bullet in his chest that had penetrated his heart.

Another Palestinian, 21-year-old Mo’men Abu Tabish, was wounded and is being treated at the Beit Jala Hospital in Bethlehem.

Stabbing attack

In a separate incident, a Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli police after an alleged stabbing attack on two Israelis in the old city of East Jerusalem.

According to Israeli police spokesperson Mickey Rosenfeld, one of the Israelis stabbed is in critical condition while the other suffered serious wounds.

“Police units that responded at the scene saw the attacker with a knife. The attacker was shot and killed by police units,” said Rosenfeld.

The identity of the Palestinian has not yet been disclosed, and Israeli police only gave his age – 19.

The attack occurred on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan. Israeli police have deployed extra units to the area as thousands of Muslim worshippers are expected to congregate at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

In December 2017, US President Donald Trump broke with decades of bipartisan policy to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in a move that prompted the Palestinians to cut all contacts with his administration and which has sent tensions soaring.

Israel insists the whole of Jerusalem is its “eternal, indivisible capital”, while the Palestinian leaders demand the city’s eastern sector as the capital of their future state.