Hundreds of Palestinian mourners marched through Anabta, in the northern West Bank, on Thursday (April 4th) as they attended a funeral procession for two Palestinian teenagers shot dead by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian officials named the dead men as Amer Nassar, 17, and Naji Belbisi, 18.

The Israeli army said troops fired on Palestinians who threw fire bombs after dark on Wednesday (April 3rd) at a guard post near Tulkarem.

One body was swiftly recovered and a second was found in the early hours of Thursday.

The army said it was investigating the incident, which left at least one other Palestinian wounded.

Tensions have risen rapidly in the West Bank and Gaza Strip following the death from cancer on Tuesday (April 2nd) of Maysara Abu Hamdeya, 64, who was serving a life sentence in an Israeli jail.

Palestinians accuse Israel of withholding care from the man and failing to release him after diagnosing that his illness was terminal. Israel says it followed normal procedures.

Abu Hamdeya, who was serving a life term for a planned attack on a Jerusalem cafe in 2002, is due to be buried in Hebron later on Thursday and the army is braced for fresh violence.

The upsurge in violence comes just days before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to visit Jerusalem and Ramallah in hope of seeing progress towards reviving peace negotiations that broke down in 2010.

Presented by Adam Justice

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https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/gaza-rocket-israel-teen-dead-palestine-hamdiyeh-453493