Palestinian shot by Israeli troops during protest dies

An 18-year-old protester shot by Israeli troops during a demonstration over the killing of a Palestinian toddler died of his wounds on Saturday, Palestinian health officials said.

Ahmad Betawi, the director of the Ramallah hospital, said Laith Al Khaldi died after being shot in the chest on Friday during a demonstration over the burning death of a Palestinian toddler in a fire set by suspected Jewish extremists. The Israeli military said it shot Al Khaldi near Ramallah after he hurled a fire bomb at them.

Al Khaldi was buried on Saturday and small skirmishes ensued.

Tensions remain high after suspected Jewish assailants set fire to a West Bank home and burned the sleeping Palestinian toddler to death. The child's 4-year-old brother and both his parents were also seriously wounded. The attack drew Palestinian anger and widespread Israeli condemnation.

About 2,000 Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli security forces in the West Bank city of Hebron. Saturday saw only minor clashes as Israel deployed greater crowd control forces to try and prevent further escalation.

The Palestinians accuse Israel of not doing enough to protect them from extremist Jewish settlers. Israel fears the incident could spark wider unrest and has called for calm.

The extremists have for years staged attacks against Palestinian property, as well as mosques, churches, dovish Israeli groups and even Israeli military bases. The attacks, known as "price tags" because they exact a price for Israeli steps seen as favuorable to the Palestinians, have stirred fear in Palestinians but rarely any deaths - which made Friday's incident, in which 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh was killed all the more startling.