The number of Palestinians who were killed in the West Bank by Israeli security forces in 2013 was overall the highest figure in the past five years, the Betz' elem organization advocating for human rights in the occupied territories said in a report Monday.

According to the group, 36 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces in 2013, 27 of them in the West Bank and nine others in the Gaza Strip. The number of Palestinians that were killed in the West Bank was three times more than their number in the previous year and reached the highest level in the past five years.

"Moreover, the interrogations of the Israeli Defense Forces into these incidents is a messy and slow process," Jessica Monthel, the organization's CEO said in a statement.

Whereas in the years 2003 until 2012, the majority of the victims came from the Gaza Strip, this year most of the victims were killed in the West Bank.

The report specifies that during nine deadly incidents, the Israeli military was conducting counter-terrorism activity, in four other attacks Palestinians were hurling stones at the soldiers, among others.

The report also adds that three Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinians, two of them in the West Bank and one near the border fence with Gaza.