Yousef Deiros, and Erez Tsakalotos of Jerusalem’s Bar-Ilan University said they had taken steps to limit the spread of the practice, a step the Israeli government has resisted.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority’s Civil Affairs Ministry, Tawfik Shimron, told Haaretz that the authority had taken steps in the wake of a visit of UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov to Bethlehem, in a bid to “prevent the dissemination of this illegal practice for Palestinian children.”

The report comes shortly after Hamas police violently dispersed protesters in the West Bank city of Jenin, where authorities announced that two youths were killed and 19 others were wounded late last week in clashes with Israeli authorities over allegations of stone throwing by youths.

“In Jenin and other parts of the West Bank, the authorities have been forced to act and to take strong steps against stone throwing by youths and young people, although they did not respond to all the measures taken in response to the riotous actions of settlers,” he said.

Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

The report also revealed the disturbing history of Israeli forces’ handling of alleged attacks by Jewish youths, including two teenagers who were shot in the head over the summer by Israeli police in the village of Turmus Yisrael. “These incidents appear to have prompted an escalation of violence,” added the report. “Moreover, it seems to confirm the growing influence of incitement in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

The report, according to the UN, comes after a wave of violence in the West Bank that began in December and led to hundreds of injuries. Earlier this month, dozens of Palestinians injured and some killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip in what the United Nations called a “war crimes investigation.”

The Palestinian Authority, for its part, has expressed alarm at the Israeli police’s approach to stone-throwing, and said in late February it might close the Jerusalem settlement of Efrat near Ramat Gan, which it suspects is supplying illegal stones to Palestinians. According to the report, the Palestinians’ fear is that settlers will soon pour into the town as a result of this activity.

The report said the Israeli government has rejected a proposal by the Palestinian Authority to establish a Palestinian police force of some 400 officers in Ramallah. It also said that it