Israeli army kills Palestinian teen in occupied West Bank

Israeli troops have shot dead an 18-year-old Palestinian near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Palestine's Health Ministry said.

Musaab Nafal died "from severe wounds sustained by occupation (Israeli) bullets near the village of Sinjil", the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The Israeli army alleged soldiers responded to "a report about stone hurling toward a highway" that had caused damage "to a number of cars".

Soldiers "responded with fire toward the perpetrators. Hits were identified," it said in a statement.

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Violence soars 

The incident came four days after Israelis went to the polls for general elections.

Violence has soared between Israel and the Palestinians in recent months, with near daily West Bank raids by Israeli forces.

On Thursday, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians, including an alleged attacker in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

About 500,000 illegal Jewish settlers currently live in the West Bank in communities considered unlawful by most of the international community, alongside some 2.9 million Palestinians.

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