Relatives of 16-year-old Palestinian Rashid Abu Arreh mourn at the morgue of a hospital in Tubas [Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP]

Ramallah, May 12 (RHC)-- A Palestinian teenager has been shot dead by the Israeli army in the northern occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian authorities, the second such fatality within hours during a major escalation in violence.

The Palestinian health ministry said Rashid Abu Arreh, 16 years old, was killed in Tubas, north of Nablus, on Wednesday.  There was no immediate comment by the Israeli army.

Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted witnesses as saying Israeli “soldiers raided Tubas early this morning and clashed with local residents, … resulting in the shooting and killing of Abu Arreh.”  Medics said Abu Arreh was shot twice in the neck and chest and died immediately, according to WAFA.

Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah, said the Israeli army had carried out overnight raids in different occupied West Bank cities that resulted in the detention of more than 40 Palestinians, most of whom are former prisoners or linked to Hamas, the group that runs Gaza.

“As a result of these raids, Palestinians took to the streets and confrontations erupted [with the Israeli army],” she added, noting that more than 30 Palestinians were wounded.  The latest casualties came as Israel launched its most intense bombardment in years on the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 43 Palestinians, including 13 children, so far.

Days of rising tension in occupied East Jerusalem reached a tipping point on Monday when Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during prayers, wounding hundreds of Palestinians.