Several thousand mourners attended the funerals on Friday of two Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces in the West Bank, as further clashes took place between protesters and soldiers.

"We will sacrifice ourselves for you, o martyrs," mourners chanted as the bodies, draped in Palestinian flags, were taken through the streets of the West Bank town of Birzeit.

Pope Francis will ride in open-top cars in Amman and Bethlehem during his May 24-26 trip to the Middle East this month despite security concerns, the Vatican said on Thursday as it outlined the travel schedule.

The Argentine pontiff will also not be taking any bulletproof cars during his busy trip and will travel by helicopter from Amman to Bethlehem, from Bethlehem to Tel Aviv and from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Israeli troops shot and fatally wounded two Palestinians during a Nakba day demonstration near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday, medics and security sources said.

Security and medical sources told Agence France Presse that Musaab Nuwarah, 20, and Mohammed Udeh, 17, died in a Ramallah hospital.

The Maronite patriarch's historic first visit to Jerusalem to welcome Pope Francis is aimed at strengthening the "Christian presence" in the Middle East, a church official said Wednesday.

Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's visit was announced earlier this month, prompting condemnation from media close to Hizbullah, which said travelling to the group's arch-enemy Israel would be a "sin."

The Palestinians have written to foreign governments urging them to list Jewish extremist groups behind a spate of hate attacks as terrorist organizations, the foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Those receiving the letters include Canada, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, as well as the Arab League and the Islamic Cooperation Organization, Riyad al-Malki told Palestinian radio.

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered Monday near the reputed scene of Jesus's last supper in Jerusalem demanding that Israel keep sovereignty over the site where Pope Francis will celebrate mass.

The pope will visit the Holy Land from May 24-26 and before returning to Rome is set to hold a mass in the site known as the Upper Room or Cenacle, on Mount Zion near the walls of the Old City.

Below are four key questions about the wave of anti-Arab hate crime sweeping Israel.

- What are 'price tag' attacks?

The head of the Roman Catholic church in the Holy Land said Sunday that Israeli hate crimes against local Muslims and Christians are souring relations ahead of a papal visit.

"The unrestrained acts of vandalism poison the atmosphere -- the atmosphere of co-existence and the atmosphere of collaboration, especially in these two weeks prior to the visit of Pope Francis," Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal said.

On May 24, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will travel to Jerusalem to welcome Pope Francis during his brief visit to the occupied Palestinian territories.

He would be the first patriarch to visit the Holy Land since the creation of Israel in 1948, with which Lebanon is technically at war.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas praised on Wednesday evening the Maronite Patriarch's anticipated visit to Jerusalem, considering that it contributes to “strengthening Muslim-Christian coexistence as well as the Arabic identity” of the occupied Palestinian territories.

"We highly appreciate, respect and welcome Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's visit to the Holy Land and meeting with the city's people,” Abbas said in a telephone call with Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, according to a statement published on the state-run National News Agency.