Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian teenagers in the occupied West Bank Sunday, the Palestinian health ministry said, as the army confirmed it "neutralized" two attackers who fired at soldiers.
The incident, after numerous deaths during an Israeli raid further north in the Palestinian territory, added to a two-year surge of violence in the West Bank that has accelerated since the war in Gaza began on October 7.
The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said the deaths of the two Palestinians were "caused by occupation (Israeli army) bullets.”
It identified the two as Muhammad Majid Musa Jabareen, 19, and Musa Mahmud Musa Jabareen, 18.
According to the Israeli army, one of them attempted to stab soldiers that were in the area, “who responded with live fire and neutralized him."
At the same time, the other Palestinian “opened fire at the soldiers, who responded with live fire and neutralized him too,” the military said.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the latest incident occurred at the entrance to the village of Beit Einun near the city of Hebron.
Quoting two Palestinian security sources, Wafa reported that the men succumbed to their wounds after they were fired on.
Following the incident troops stormed Beit Einun and raided several homes, the agency reported.
On Saturday, Israeli forces killed 14 Palestinians during a raid in the West Bank, while an ambulance driver was killed as he went to pick up wounded from a separate attack by violent Jewish settlers, Palestinian authorities said.
Israeli forces began an extended raid in the early hours of Friday in the Nur Shams area, near the flashpoint Palestinian city of Tulkarm and exchanged fire with armed fighters well into Saturday.
