Ramallah, April 19 (RHC)-- Israeli military forces have shot and critically injured a Palestinian student after skirmishes broke out between a group of young protesters and Israeli soldiers in the central part of the occupied West Bank.

Local Palestinian sources, requesting not to be named, said clashes broke out following the funeral procession of 42-year-old Palestinian teacher Fatima Suleiman, whom a settler had run over and killed in the Khirbat al-Dayr district of the town of Tuqu’, located 12 kilometers southeast of Bethlehem, earlier in the day.

Israeli forces used live rounds, rubber-coated bullets as well as tear gas bombs to disperse the protesting Palestinian students.  Security forces detained one of the students, then opened fire at him from point-blank range as he attempted to flee, critically wounding him in the thigh, the sources noted.

Israeli forces then prevented Tuqu’ residents from helping the student, and did not allow Palestinian paramedics to reach him to provide first aid.

The occupied Palestinian territories have witnessed new tensions ever since U.S. President Donald Trump announced his decision on December 6, 2017 to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the occupied city.

The U.S. officially opened its diplomatic mission in Jerusalem amid a deadly Israeli crackdown on Palestinian protests.