Jerusalem, Feb 24 (IANS): Israeli troops have shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in the West Bank for hurling firebombs at passing vehicles, the Israeli military has said.

The incident took place on Tuesday in al-Khader, a town near Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Xinhua news agency reported.

Israeli troops spotted three Palestinian suspects hurling firebombs at passing drivers when they were conducting "counter-terrorism activity" near al-Khader, an Israeli military spokesperson said on Wednesday in a statement sent to Xinhua.

"The troops operated to stop them, firing at one of the suspects who hurled a Molotov cocktail toward passing vehicles," the statement added.

It confirmed that the Israeli troops shot and fatally injured the boy, who was identified by the Palestinian Health Ministry as Mohammed Shehadeh.

Israel seized the West Bank and Gaza strip in the 1967 Middle East war and has controlled it ever since. The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state on these territories with East Jerusalem as its capital.