Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in separate West Bank incidents, with the Palestinian health ministry identifying the deceased as a 16-year-old boy and a 22-year-old man.
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said it killed two Palestinians in separate incidents in the north of the occupied West Bank on Saturday.
In a statement, the military said a “terrorist” hurled a block at soldiers during an operation in the Qabatiya area, near Jenin.
The soldiers “responded with fire and eliminated the terrorist,” the statement said.
Simultaneously, during another operation in the Silat al-Harithiya area, also near Jenin, a “terrorist” hurled an explosive device at troops, who also “responded with fire and eliminated the terrorist.”
The Israeli military reported no injuries among its forces.
The Palestinian health ministry, however, said a 16-year-old boy died “from wounds caused by a bullet of the Israeli occupation forces,” according to the official Wafa news agency.
It also reported that a 22-year-old man was killed by “a bullet to the chest during an occupation forces raid” on Silat al-Harithiya.
Violence in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has surged since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.
The unrest has continued despite a truce between Israel and Hamas that came into effect in October.
According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures, Israeli troops or settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank since the Gaza war began.
Many of those killed were militants, but scores of civilians have also died.
Official Israeli figures state at least 44 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations in the West Bank during the same period.
