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HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces denied Palestinian shepherds in the southern West Bank access to their lands on Monday and detained two teenage shepherds.

A spokesman for the local committee against the Israeli wall and settlements in the south Hebron district told Ma'an that Israeli troops stopped several shepherds from Um el-Kher village east of Yatta while they were steering their herds to pastures.

The soldiers then detained Husam Suleiman al-Hathalin, 16, and his brother Omar, 17, who are from the Hathalin tribe.

The spokesperson added that the pair were taken to a detention center in the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron.

An Israeli army spokeswoman did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.