Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians, including a 16-year-old, in a raid in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian health officials said.

"Two young men were rushed to the hospital with bullets in their chests," the Jericho Hospital's director said on early Tuesday.

Residents also told agencies that there were armed clashes, but it was not clear whether the two men were involved in these clashes or not.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified those killed as Qusay al Walaji, 16, and Mohammed Nujoom, 25, adding that the raid took place in the Jericho area, which has seen heavy fighting over the last 16 months. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

The raid lasted for less than an hour, the residents added.

Violence in the West Bank, among territories where the Palestinians want a complete end to the Israeli occupation along with East Jerusalem,has worsened over the past 15 months with stepped-up Israeli raids and assaults by Jewish settlers on Palestinian villages as Israel is led by a government composed of ultranationalist settlement supporters.

Israeli-Palestinian violence in the West Bank has surged to levels unseen in nearly two decades, with more than 170 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the start of 2023, according to a tally by the Associated Press news agency.

Israel says most of those killed have been militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting the raids and others not involved in the confrontations have also been killed.

At least 27 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis during that time.

Israel says the raids are essential to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks. The Palestinians see the violence as a natural response to 56 years of occupation, including stepped-up settlement construction by Israel’s government and increased violence by Jewish settlers.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Palestinians seek those territories for their hoped-for independent state.