JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian youth who the army said had been throwing stones at Israeli vehicles on a road in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said troops patrolling near the West Bank city of Hebron encountered Palestinians throwing rocks at vehicles on a main road and shot one of them.

The Palestinian health ministry said 15-year-old Omar Madi was taken to hospital in Hebron where he was declared dead.

Since a surge in violence began in October, 27 Israelis and a U.S. citizen have been killed in near-daily Palestinian attacks that have included stabbings, shootings and car-rammings.

Israeli forces have killed at least 157 Palestinians in the same period, 101 of them assailants, according to Israeli authorities. Other Palestinians have died during violent anti-Israeli protests.

The bloodshed has been partly fueled by Palestinian frustration over long-stalled peace talks and anger at perceived Jewish encroachment on a contested Jerusalem shrine.