Israeli regime forces have shot dead a Palestinian teenage boy near the Palestinian city of al-Khalil (Hebron) in the southern occupied West Bank.

Sixteen-year-old Murad Yusif Abu Ghazi lost his life at around 09:00 p.m. local time on Friday at al-Khalil’s al-Ahli Hospital due to gunshot injuries to his chest, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement, adding that he had sustained wounds in al-Arrub refugee camp when Israeli troops opened fire at a group of protesting youths a few hours earlier.

The statement added that another teenage boy, identified as 17-year-old Saif Salim Rushdi, had also been injured in the raid.

An Israeli army spokesperson said that soldiers had been deployed to the site and began attacking the youths with live fire after they allegedly hurled “firebombs” at passing vehicles on a road in the vicinity of the camp.

However, it was widely reported by Palestinian media that a number of protesters were only throwing stones when the Israeli troops opened fire at them.

Over the past months, Israeli settlers and the troops have fatally shot many Palestinians, claiming that they sought to carry out attacks against Israelis.

The occupied Palestinian territories have witnessed tensions ever since Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem al-Quds in August 2015.

At least 285 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces in the tensions since the beginning of October that year.