Funerals have taken place for two Palestinian teenagers who local officials say were killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in an attack on their village in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.
The village council in al-Mughayyir told the BBC that Omar al-Nassan, 19, and Khalil Abu Alia, 16, were killed as they tried to stop Israeli settlers stealing sheep and that confrontations broke out.
The Israeli military stated that its forces had entered the village to provide security for an Israeli civilian and police trying to retrieve livestock.
It said the forces fired on and struck what it called “key instigators” of a “violent disturbance”, in which Palestinians threw stones at its troops.
The deaths come amid a recent surge in settler violence in the West Bank, with more than three attacks per day on average recorded by the UN so far this year.
Al-Mughayyir, near Ramallah, has seen repeated settler attacks.
WhatsApp messages in groups used by settlers have indicated that they hope to force its population to move.their