People flock to the memorial service at the local community center in the village of Shuqba. Men of all ages come to pay their respects and offer condolences to Mohammed. His son, Qais, was killed by Israeli soldiers on Wednesday afternoon. – I carried his lifeless body to the hospital in my own arms, says Mohammed. 17 YEARS OLD: Qais was only 17 years old. According to his father, he was an ordinary boy, not a Hamas fighter. Photo: Privat The 17-year-old boy was out throwing stones at Israeli soldiers with a friend, his father says. He says that Qais and his friends were upset about the situation in Gaza. At least 4,137 people have been killed there in the past two weeks, according to Palestinian health authorities. – He sat on his mobile phone and saw pictures of women, young people and babies being killed by Israeli bombs. The pictures made him angry, says Mohammed. – An ordinary boy It has been very tense in the occupied West Bank for a long time. After the brutal Hamas attack on the border with Gaza almost two weeks ago, in which more than 1,400 people were killed, the tension has increased sharply. Since October 7, at least 75 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, according to Palestinian authorities. Israel has arrested more than 500 people in the area in what it describes as anti-terrorist operations. 330 of these are Hamas fighters, according to Israeli authorities. Mohammed denies that his son was part of the armed Palestinian group. – My son was no warrior. He hadn’t killed anyone. He was an ordinary boy. MEMORIAL: Mohammed and other men from the village of Shuqba have gathered to mourn Qais. Photo: Terje Haugnes / news The father fights back the tears, but they push forward. – Qais smiled at everyone. The occupiers took his smile from me, he says, breaking down. During Israeli occupation Family members say that both the 17-year-old and his 15-year-old friend were shot when they threw stones at Israeli soldiers. One received three bullets in the torso, the other one bullet in the groin, according to Mohammed. ANGRY: Mohammed believes that Palestinians in the West Bank are confined in their own country. The war in Gaza is stirring up anger that is already at boiling point. Photo: Terje Haugnes / news – We were terrified to retrieve their bodies. The Israeli soldiers watched us from a distance with their binoculars, the father claims. He believes Qais was killed “only because he was Palestinian”. IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus was asked by Sky News this week why Israeli forces fire live ammunition at Palestinians who throw stones. He replied that the situation has changed markedly after the terrorist attack on 7 October, and that Israeli forces are on high alert. – There is no room for nonsense, no room for taunting Israeli forces. And a stone can kill, if someone gets a stone in the head it is fatal. This is no longer a game. Tolerance for Palestinian violence and for approaching Israeli neighborhoods has become considerably lower, Conricus said. UNRESTS: There have been unrest and riots on the West Bank on several occasions after the Hamas attack on 7 October. Here from the outskirts of Ramallah on October 16. Photo: JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP – Confined in our own country The West Bank has been under Israeli occupation since 1967. Since then, Israel has built more than 279 illegal settlements there, shows an overview the UN has made. There are 700,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank, in direct violation of international law. The settlers are protected by large Israeli security forces. In the last two years, violence between settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank has increased sharply. Over 300 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank during this period, according to the UN. On the Israeli side, at least 35 people have been killed in the same period. The figures are from before the war in Gaza started. OVERALL: Many turned out to support Mohammed after the loss of his son. Photo: Terje Haugnes / news Mohammed explains that Palestinian youth take to the streets to protest against the occupation. – Even a cat that is kept confined in a room for long enough will eventually try to fight its way out of captivity. That’s how we feel. We are confined in our own country, he says.
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