Three-year-old Palestinian boy hit by Israeli forces dies

A three-year old Palestinian boy died on Monday after being shot by the Israeli military.

A spokesman for the Sheba Medical Centre in Israel said the child had died despite the doctors' great efforts to save his life.

The boy was airlifted from the West Bank to the hospital near Tel Aviv in a military helicopter on Thursday evening after he had suffered life-threatening injuries when being caught in an exchange of fire between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers.

According to the Israeli military, two armed Palestinians had fired at an Israeli settlement near an army post for several minutes on Thursday evening. Israeli forces then returned the fire. The child and a man were hit in the exchange, it said.

The army published a video supposedly showing the attackers, though the images are not clear.

"The army regrets that bystanders were injured," it said. The military said it was investigating the incident, which took place near Ramallah.

According to Palestinian reports, the boy and his father were sat in a car when the incident occurred. The 40-year-old man is said to have suffered severe injuries and is being treated in hospital.

The security situation in the region is extremely tense, with daily clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. Time and again, civilians are injured in the violence.

A total of 119 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, confrontations or after their own attacks so far this year. In the same period, 18 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian were killed in attacks.