Jerusalem [Israel], November 22: Israeli forces killed two Palestinian teenagers during an overnight raid on a town near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, residents said, as violence surges in the territory with a growing number of dead.
Forces shot Sami Ibrahim Mashaikha, 16, and Amr Khaled Al-Marboua, 18, in Kfar Aqab and both later died of their wounds, according to the health ministry in the Palestinian Authority that exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank.
The Palestinian WAFA news agency reported that Israeli forces had raided Kfar Aqab overnight, deploying forces to the streets and on top of the town's buildings before opening fire.
Israel Police said in a statement that its forces opened fire at four people who, it said, had posed an immediate threat during an operation in the Kfar Aqab area. The individuals were evacuated by medical teams, the police said.
The operation, according to police, was aimed at what it described as "hostile elements seeking to harm security forces and provoke violent disorder". Police came under attack by stone-throwing and fireworks during the operation, it said.
Heavy gunfire was also heard, police said, though its source was not identified.
While an October 10 ceasefire has largely ended the war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants, the West Bank is experiencing increasing violence.
Palestinians have faced tightening military restrictions over the past two years, curbing their freedom of movement. Attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers have also escalated.
Overnight, settlers attacked communities near Nablus, setting fire to properties in Huwara and Abu Falah, residents there said.
The Israeli military said that soldiers responded to reports overnight of Israeli civilians hurling rocks toward Palestinian vehicles and setting fire to property in the Huwara area.
Israeli soldiers carried out searches in the area but found no suspects, the military said in a statement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would meet with cabinet ministers to ensure that Israelis involved in attacks on Palestinians are brought to justice, calling those responsible a "small, extremist group".
Videos widely shared on social media have shown dozens of settlers, often wielding wooden clubs and sometimes guns, attacking Palestinian West Bank communities in recent months.
Israeli forces have killed six Palestinian minors, aged under 18, in the West Bank so far this month, according to a Reuters tally.
In one incident near Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority is based, the military said that two 16-year-old youths had hurled petrol bombs at a civilian road.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the claim. The military released a grainy nine-second video that it said showed the two teenagers throwing the petrol bombs. The military declined to release the full video or answer questions about why the soldier chose to open fire rather than attempt an arrest.
On Tuesday, Palestinian attackers killed an Israeli man and injured three others in a car-ramming and stabbing attack in the West Bank, before being shot dead by Israeli soldiers.
Netanyahu called the incident a terrorist attack.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
