Israeli army kills Palestinian teen in West Bank

RAMALLAH, Apr 16 (AFP): Israeli forces killed a 17-year-old Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to Palestinian officials, as the Israeli military said its troops had "neutralised a terrorist".

Mohammed Murad Mahmud Rayan was "killed by the (Israeli) occupation forces on Thursday morning in Beit Duqqu", a village just north of Jerusalem, the Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said in a statement.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army said a "violent disturbance of the peace" broke out during "operational activity" in the Beit Duqqu area, and "a terrorist hurled stones at the soldiers, posing a threat to them".

"Soldiers responded with fire towards the terrorist" who was "neutralised", the army added.

According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the Israeli army was carrying out "a wide-scale search operation targeting several homes".

Violence in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has soared since the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.