RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories, Nov 8, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The Palestinian health ministry said on Friday that Israeli forces killed two 16-year-olds in the occupied West Bank village of Judeira, where the military had said it killed two individuals who had thrown Molotov cocktails.

In a statement, the Ramallah-based ministry announced the death of two teenagers, Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed Ateem and Muhammad Rashad Fadl Qasim, both aged 16, who it said were shot dead by Israeli forces.

The ministry added that the Israeli military was holding the teenagers' bodies.

The Israeli military said it had killed two people who it said threw Molotov cocktails in Judeira the previous night.

"Last night... two terrorists were identified as they ignited and threw Molotov cocktails toward a main civilian route," in Judeira, north of Jerusalem, the military said in a statement.

It added that the military unit deployed in the area "eliminated" the individuals, a word officials generally use when Israeli forces kill a suspect.

The military published a surveillance camera video in which two individuals are seen throwing a burning object over a wall matching the appearance of the one separating the area near Judeira from a road used exclusively by Israelis.

Though located in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, Judeira is surrounded by roads and lands that are effectively annexed by Israel.

Mohammed Ateem's father, Mohammed, told AFP that the families lost sight of the two teenagers "an hour or two" after the Israeli troops entered the town, and only learned of their deaths on Friday morning.

Around 9:30 pm, "we got the news that they were 'caught', but we didn't know if they'd been killed or just detained. So that's how it was", Ateem said of his son.

On Wednesday, the military killed another teenager who it said had thrown an explosive device at Israeli troops.

In a statement on Friday, the military said it had killed three militants and arrested 60 "wanted individuals" this week in the occupied West Bank.

Violence in the West Bank has soared since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023.

At least 1,001 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the start of the war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

During the same period, 43 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank, according to official Israeli figures.