Hundreds of Israeli settlers storm Palestinian villages

Hundreds of Israeli settlers attacked two villages near the occupied West Bank city of Qalqilya.

Residents of the Jit and Farata villages told Palestinian Authority news agency WAFA that an estimated 500 settlers from nearby settlements attempted to invade the two villages and attack its residents, but were chased off by the local Palestinian population.

Head of the Ambulance and Emergency unit in Qalqilya Munther Nazzal said ambulance crews rushed to the area to treat a woman who suffered a panic attack in the occupied village of Farta after the incident.

This comes after an Israeli settler was killed on Tuesday night on a main road outside the illegal Israeli outpost of Havat Gilad, close to occupied Nablus.

The Israeli military in response set up roadblocks, checkpoints and sealed off Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

Israel's settlement project in the occupied territories is illegal under international law and seen by the international community as a major obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.

About 400,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel for 50 years. 

A further 200,000 live in East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel in a move never recognised by the international community.

On Wednesday, Israeli authorities approved more than 1,100 new settlement homes to be built in the occupied West Bank, according to Peace Now NGO.