Nablus, Palestinian Territories – One Palestinian was killed on Saturday by an Israeli settler near the northern city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Bilal Abu Salah, 40, was “shot in the chest by a settler” in the village of Sawiya near Nablus, a ministry statement said.
Sawiya mayor Mahmud Hassan told AFP Abu Salah was killed while he was harvesting olives with other members of his family in their fields located not far from the security fence around Rechelim settlement.
“They were attacked by four settlers, and one of them who was armed with an M16 rifle opened fire at them without warning,” Hassan said.
“Abu Salah was hit in the chest and was martyred in front of his family and children.”
The Israeli army did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
Violence has surged in the West Bank in parallel with Israel’s war with Gaza’s Hamas rulers that began on October 7 when fighters surged across the border, killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, in the worst-ever attack in Israel’s history.
Israel has hit back with a relentless bombardment that Gaza’s health ministry says has killed more than 7,700 Palestinians, mostly civilians and many of them children.
Since then, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, mostly during raids by Israeli forces or attacks by settlers.
The West Bank, which is home to about three million Palestinians, has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six Day War.
About 490,000 Israelis live there in settlements that are illegal under international law.