NABLUS, West Bank - Four Palestinians killed by  Israeli forces in the West Bank were buried on Sunday following violence  that has exacerbated growing tensions.

The Israeli army shot dead  two 19-year-old men who it said had tried to stab a soldier on patrol  near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. Two youths were also shot on  Saturday.

Palestinian officials accused  Israel of escalating tensions already running high over moves which  Palestinians believe aim to deepen Israeli control over the territory.

Palestinian government  spokesman Ghassan Khatib called for an independent investigation into  the killing of cousins Mohammed Qawariq and Saleh Qawariq on Sunday,  citing witness accounts they had been shot only after being arrested.

Mahmoud al-Aloul, a senior  figure in the Fatah party led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas,  said they had been killed in “cold blood”: “Nobody can imagine that we  can stand with our hands tied vis-a-vis what is happening,” Aloul told  around 1,500 mourners at their funeral in Awarta, south of Nablus.

One of the bodies was wrapped  in a yellow Fatah flag and the other in the green flag of the rival  Hamas Islamist movement.

Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu  Rdainah said Israel had responded to international efforts to revive  peace talks “with more escalation” that thwarted attempts to get  negotiations going.

Tensions in the West Bank and  East Jerusalem have risen in recent weeks, with Palestinians staging  more protests over Israeli policies they believe aim to retain land  where the Palestinians want to establish a state. The United States is  trying to relaunch peace negotiations between the two sides.

Many of the protests have  turned violent, with Palestinians throwing rocks at soldiers who fire  rubber bullets and tear gas.

This though was the bloodiest  24 hours for Palestinians in the West Bank for more than a year. Two  youths killed by Israeli forces on Saturday were also buried in the  nearby village of Iraq Burin, just a few kilometres (miles) from Awarta.

MEDICS SAY  LIVE AMMUNITION USED

Palestinian medics said  Mohammed Kaddous, 16, and Osaid Kaddous, 17, were killed by gunfire  during a confrontation on Saturday between Israeli forces and  Palestinian youths.

Ahmad Hammad, a Nablus  doctor, showed a Reuters journalist a photograph of what he said was a  bullet entry wound in Mohammed Kaddous’s chest and an exit wound in his  back.

Hamid al-Masri, a doctor who  treated Osaid Kaddous, presented an X-ray which he said showed a metal  bullet lodged in his brain.

The Israeli army, which said  it was responding to people throwing stones, denied using live rounds,  only rubber bullets.

Locals said the youths, who  were not closely related despite their similar names, had not been  taking part in the protest.

Villagers in Iraq Burin have  been staging protests over Israeli-imposed restrictions on access to  farmland that lies near the Jewish settlement of Har Bracha. Jewish  residents there say they are anxious to expand their land holdings  rapidly.

Palestinian Prime Minister  Salam Fayyad strongly condemned “the Israeli military escalation” that  had led to the four deaths, according to a statement issued by his  office.

He warned that Israel was  endangering the West Bank stability which his administration has sought  to build.

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