Teenager shot dead in West Bank

Ramallah residents protested against the killing of the teenager

A Palestinian teenager has been shot dead by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Ramallah, officials have said.

Local residents said Mohammed Jabbarin, 16, had not been armed and had been shot after he threw rocks at a patrol.

The Israeli military said its soldiers had identified and killed an armed man handling an explosive device which he was planning to use against them.

The youth was the third Palestinian to be killed by Israeli security forces in the West Bank in the past two days.

On Sunday, two militants from the Fatah-linked al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades were killed in Hebron and Nablus.

In other violence, Palestinian militants in Gaza fired three mortars into southern Israel, the Israeli military said. No injuries or damage were reported.

A small Israeli force entered the coastal strip on Friday as part of an effort to curb rockets being launched following an attack last week that wounded 69 Israeli soldiers.