By Esat Firat 

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians on Friday near the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. 

Mahmoud Yousef, 18, and Mohammad Nahla, 16, were killed by Israeli troops during a demonstration near the Al-Jalazone refugee camp, north of Ramallah, said a ministry statement.

Both victims were shot in the abdomen with live ammunition and died from wounds at the Ramallah medical center. 

Also according to the ministry, five other Palestinians sustained gunshot injuries in various parts of the occupied West Bank on Friday, while dozens of others suffered the ill effects of teargas. 

West Bank Palestinians stage demonstrations each Friday to protest Israeli settlement expansion and Israel’s massive “separation barrier,” which snakes through the occupied territory, isolating many small Palestinian communities.