Israeli settlers kill Palestinian in occupied West Bank

Israeli settlers shot dead a Palestinian man on Saturday near a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian health ministry said the man was one of at least six Palestinians shot during clashes in Mughayir village near Ramallah.

It named him as Hamdi Nassan, 38, saying he was hit with live ammunition in the back.

Amin abu Alya, head of the Mughayir village council, said settlers opened fire before the Israeli army moved in.

"At the beginning it was settlers shooting, then the army came and fired tear gas," he told AFP by phone.

Asked who shot Nassan he said it was settlers.

"We hold the Israeli government fully responsible for this new crime," senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat wrote on Twitter.

"Settler terrorists continue to attack Palestinian civilians under the protection of the Israeli army."

The Israeli army said in a statement that initial indications were that a settler from the nearby Israeli settlement of Adei Ad had a "physical confrontation" with several Palestinians and was slightly hurt.

"Shortly thereafter, a conflict erupted between Israeli civilians and Palestinians in the area, in which live rounds were fired by the civilians," the statement said.

"One Palestinian died and several others are injured."

It said that troops and border police used "riot dispersal means" to break up the disturbance and that the incident would be investigated.

Mughayir village has been the scene of a number of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in recent months.

Official Palestinian news agency said President Mahmoud Abbas "condemns the aggression of settler gangs on the village of Mughayir".

Settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is routine, with the UN reporting over 220 incidents of assault or damage to property in 2018.

Over 90 percent of complaints filed by Palestinians regarding settler violence are closed by Israeli authorities without an indictment.

Nearly 450,000 Jewish settlers live in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which is also home to more than 2.5 million Palestinians.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.