Israeli forces have killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, a day after Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with missiles.

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Monitoring: Mehdi Bayadsa, 29, was killed by “bullets from the occupation (Israel) near the Rantis military checkpoint, west of Ramallah”, the ministry said in a statement.

The military in a statement said it had “neutralised” a Palestinian who had arrived near the crossing point between the West Bank and Israel in a stolen vehicle.

“While IDF (Israeli army) soldiers inspected his vehicle, the suspect attacked an IDF soldier and attempted to steal his weapon,” the army said, adding a “lightly injured” soldier was taken to hospital.

Following the confrontation, another soldier in the area shot live fire toward the suspect and neutralised him,” the army said, adding that it was “investigating the incident”.

Nearly three million Palestinians live in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967. About 490,000 Israelis live in the occupied territory in settlements deemed illegal under international law.

Since the start of the year, at least 157 Palestinians, 21 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have been killed in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a tally compiled from official sources.

The figures include combatants as well as civilians and, on the Israeli side, three members of the Arab minority.