Israeli forces kill Palestinian teenager in West Bank

A Palestinian teenager died from his wounds hours after being shot by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian sources said  on Saturday.

Mohammad Hamad, 16, was shot and wounded on Friday evening near the town of Silwad, close to Ramallah in the northern West Bank, and died hours later, a Silwad councillor told AFP.

The teenager was near a road leading to the neighbouring settlement of Ofra when he was shot by Israeli soldiers, the councillor said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman claimed that dozens of Palestinians had gathered in the area and hurled rocks at passing cars.

She told AFP that Israeli soldiers "had used live fire as a last resort".

A Palestinian was hit, she added, without giving further details. The death comes amid a spike in Israeli attacks against Palestinians.

Dozens more Palestinians were injured on Friday as Israeli forces attacked protest marches against illegal Israeli settlements.

Israeli security forces have conducted raids inside Israel and in the West Bank in which three Israeli Arab attackers and at least 46 Palestinians have been killed since late March.

Among those killed were non-combatants, including Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was covering a raid in Jenin.

The increased Israeli attacks came following attacks by Palestinians and Israeli Arabs which killed 19 people.