Ramallah, Palestine - Israeli forces are holding the bodies of two Palestinian teenagers shot dead near a West Bank settlement, Palestinian authorities said Monday.
The Ramallah-based General Authority of Civil Affairs, which is affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, said the bodies were with Israeli authorities. It said the shooting took place north of the city of Hebron.
Official Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the two killed as Reda Sami Awad (15) and Arafat Ismail Awad (19).
"Israeli forces are holding their bodies," Wafa said.
According to Israel's military, soldiers opened fire late Sunday on a group of people burning tires and hurling petrol bombs towards the settlement.
Two were killed and a third was "neutralized," the military said, claiming the incident occurred during a "counter-terrorism operation" in the area.
Israel has illegally occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the territory, excluding east Jerusalem, among some three million Palestinians.
The United Nations recently warned that settler violence against Palestinians has reached record levels, with an average of six attacks daily causing casualties or damage.
Israeli violence has escalated in the West Bank since October 2023. Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,082 Palestinians since then, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data.