Two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank were martyred by Israelis on Friday, one by soldiers and the other by settlers, the Palestinian health ministry said. Late Friday it announced the death of Qusai Jamal Maatan, 19, saying he was "shot dead by settlers in the village of Burqa", east of Ramallah. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Earlier, soldiers had shot dead another young Palestinian. In a statement, the Palestinian health ministry said 18-year-old Mahmoud Abu Saan was "killed this morning by live bullets from the occupation (Israel) in Tulkarm".

The Israeli army said that while forces were patrolling "suspects fired and hurled explosives and stones at the soldiers, who responded with live fire". "Hits were identified," the statement added, specifying that no soldiers were hurt. The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, reported that Abu Saan was "shot in the head by the occupation soldiers at zero distance". At Abu Saan's funeral later Friday, his head was shrouded in the Palestinian flag as his body was paraded through the town's streets ahead of the burial. Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War and its forces regularly conduct armed incursions into areas of the territory which are nominally under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, the territory is home to nearly three million Palestinians and around 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements considered illegal under international law. Friday's killings come three days after a Palestinian gunman wounded six people at an Israeli settlement in the West Bank with gunfire before being shot dead. Violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has this year killed at least 207 Palestinians, 27 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian. They include, on the Palestinian side, combatants as well as civilians and, on the Israeli side, three members of the Arab minority.

 
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)