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HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli soldiers shot and critically injured a Palestinian teenager during a protest in Beit Ummar north of Hebron on Friday, medics said.

Medical sources in al-Ahli hospital in Hebron told Ma'an that Mohammad Abu Ayyash, 16, was shot with a live bullet near his ear which penetrated his head.

He is said to be in a critical condition, medics added.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said "approximately 70 Palestinians hurled rocks at security forces, who responded with riot dispersal means. A main instigator hurled an explosive device at the soldiers, and they fired at his lower extremities."

She added that the teenager was "lightly injured" and reports of him being shot in the head were "wrong," but was not aware of which hospital he was being treated in.

Beit Ummar has been a site of tension in recent weeks due to Israeli forces' closure and erection of barriers along the town's main road, preventing locals' abilities to travel.

On Monday, Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank shot dead at least two Palestinians.

Saji Darwish, 18, was killed after being shot near Ramallah, while Raed Alaa Addin Zieter, 38, was shot dead at the Allenby Bridge crossing with Jordan.

Another Palestinian was killed during a car accident in disputed circumstances near Tulkarem on Monday, with Palestinian security sources saying that Israelis opened fire on the car prior to the crash, a claim the Israeli military denied.

Israeli military forces routinely use "unnecessary, arbitrary and brutal force" against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, with some killings amounting to war crimes, Amnesty International said in February.