EU Calls for Investigation Into Death of Palestinian Teenager in Clashes With IDF

GAZA (Sputnik) - The European Union has called for an investigation into the death of a Palestinian teenager after Friday protests against Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

At least 70 Palestinians were injured and a 13-year-old Palestinian teenager died in hospital after being wounded in the clashes with the Israeli forces in the vicinity of the West Bank city of Nablus, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. The EU Delegation to the Palestinians said the victim was 15-year-old Mohammad Daddas.

"His death should be investigated and results be announced as soon as possible to prevent such incidents from reoccurring. Under international law, children must be protected and the ISF has to respect the code of conduct established in occupied territory," the EU said on Twitter.

The mission noted that his death was the result of a "continued disproportionate use of lethal force by Israeli security forces."

The IDF told Sputnik it has launched a probe into the case.

In May, Israel began constructing a small Jewish settlement near Nablus, prompting Palestinians to protest every Friday since then against the settlement and the confiscation of Palestinian land in the area.

The issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, considered to be an occupied territory by the United Nations, is one of the main stumbling blocks in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The two-state solution to the conflict is an UN-backed principle, under which two independent sovereign states will coexist peacefully. Its implementation remains stalled, however, as the two parties have not yet agreed on where the border between them would run and who would own Jerusalem.