Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian teenager in the West Bank city of Hebron Wednesday, medical sources and witnesses said.
Yussef Sami Shawamreh, 16, was shot near the Palestinian village of al-Ramadin, south of Hebron, when he and three of his friends were reportedly attempting to cross the separation fence between Israel and the Palestinian territories, Xinhua reported.
A Israeli military spokesperson said the teenager was trying to sabotage the fence.
"Troops identified him cutting the fence and called him to back off the fence," the spokesperson said. "He didn't listen to them, and they fired at his legs."
Soldiers evacuated Shawamreh to Soroka hospital in Israel, where he later succumbed to his wounds.
His body is still held by Israeli forces at the hospital, sources confirmed.
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Israel has not commented on the incident yet.
Last week two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank in separate incidents.
According to Palestinian official data, 46 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank since the ongoing US-backed Palestinian-Israeli peace talks resumed last July.