THE Palestinian Health Ministry said a teenage boy was killed by Israeli fire during an army raid in the occupied West Bank today. 

Mohammed Balhan was shot at a refugee camp near Jericho. Israel’s military has not commented.

The latest Israeli killing of a Palestinian came as thousands of Israelis led by at least seven Cabinet ministers marched to an evacuated settlement in the northern West Bank.

The march by settlers to Eviatar was a signal that Israel’s most right-wing government in history is determined to accelerate settlement building on occupied land despite international opposition. 

Eviatar, an unauthorised settlement, was evacuated by the previous Israeli government in 2021.

Visits were officially banned by the military since its evacuation, but that prohibition has been loosely enforced in recent months. 

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht said the military approved today’s march, saying it would be “highly monitored and highly protected.”

Ohad Tal, a lawmaker with the Religious Zionist party, said that “there was no reason in the world to cancel the march.”

Organisers called for the settlement's re-establishment and legalisation by Israel (all settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law).

The action raises already high tensions in the area after days of unrest fuelled by attacks by Israeli forces on Palestinian worshippers at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

The hilltop shrine is the emotional ground zero of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

For Muslims the site is known as the Noble Sanctuary, home of the third holiest site in Islam.

For Jews, it is known as the Temple Mount, their faith’s holiest site and the place where two temples stood in antiquity. 

Dozens of Jewish visitors entered the site today escorted by Israeli police for a second consecutive day. 

These tours by religious and nationalist Jews have increased in size and frequency in recent years, raising fears by Palestinians that Israel may partition the site. 

Last week, Palestinians barricaded themselves inside al-Aqsa, demanding the right to pray there overnight, something Israel has in the past only allowed during the last 10 days of Ramadan. 

This prompted a brutal crackdown by Israeli authorities. Hundreds of worshippers were attacked leaving dozens injured and hundreds detained.

At least 92 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis so far this year while at least 19 Israelis have been killed in attacks.