Israeli forces kill 18-year-old Palestinian in West Bank

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian youth in a predawn attack in the West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday, Palestinian medics said.

At least 30 Palestinians were wounded, four of whom were shot with live ammunition and three of whom were in critical condition, the Palestine Red Crescent said.

Palestinian medics identified the man who was killed as Waseem Khalifa, 18, from Balata, the largest refugee camp in the West Bank.

The Israeli troops were accompanying settlers who were visiting Joseph's Tomb near Nablus.

Israeli media reports claimed armed Palestinians exchanged fire with Israeli soldiers around the site. No Israeli casualties were reported.

Last week, three Palestinian gunmen were killed in a shootout with Israeli forces in the northern city of Nablus.

It was the deadliest incident in the West Bank since Israel and the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad ended three days of fighting in Gaza, the worst in more than a year.

Israeli jets pounded the Gaza Strip earlier this month, killing at least 49 people, including civilians and children, and wounding hundreds more were wounded during 56 hours of fighting.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group launched nearly a thousand rockets towards Israel, but Gaza's Hamas rulers stayed out of the fighting.

Israeli forces have carried out near-daily raids in the West Bank in recent months, killing and injuring scores of people.

(Reuters and The New Arab Staff)