RAMALLAH: A Palestinian child died after stepping on a mine near an Israeli military camp in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, with an Israeli defence ministry source confirming the death.
"Our crews received the body of a 13-year-old child who was killed after a mine exploded in one of the old camps in Jiftlik in the northern Jordan Valley," the Red Crescent said in a statement.
A source at COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry's agency in charge of civilian matters in the Palestinian territories, confirmed the death to AFP and identified the boy as Mohammed Abu Dalah, from the village of Jiftlik.
Israel's military had previously said in a statement that three Palestinians were injured "as a result of playing with unexploded ordnance", without specifying their ages.
It added that the area of the incident, Tirzah, is "a military camp in the area of the Jordan Valley", near Jiftlik and close to the Jordanian border.
"This area is a live-fire zone and entry into it is prohibited," the military said.
Jiftlik village council head Ahmad Ghawanmeh told AFP that three children, the oldest of whom was 16, were collecting herbs near the military base when they detonated a mine.
Jiftlik as well as the nearby Tirzah base are located in the Palestinian territory's Area C, which falls under direct Israeli control.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
Much of the area near the border with Jordan -- which Israel signed a peace deal with in 1994 -- remains mined.
In January, Israel's defence ministry said it had begun demining the border area as part of construction works for a new barrier it says aims to stem weapons smuggling.
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