West Bank shooting kills Israeli settler; suspect held

An Israeli settler died after being shot in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, and Israel's military said it arrested the suspected gunman.

Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikvah said the man died of wounds from a shooting near the Israeli settlement of Neveh Tzuf, north of Ramallah. Israel Gantz, head of the Yesha Council settler organisation, said the dead man was a settler.

Israel's military said soldiers arrested the suspect at a hospital after a soldier had earlier shot and wounded him at the scene. Palestinian sources said the hospital was in Ramallah.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the shooting a “murderous attack” before Yom Kippur, which was due to begin on Sunday evening. Army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said the military was on high alert, and AFP journalists reported closures and vehicle searches at many checkpoints in that part of the West Bank.

Zamir said the military would impose a closure on the suspect's village and investigate those who assisted him. Israel's military told AFP that troops raided the home of the attacker's family in the Palestinian village of Biddu on Sunday.

The Palestinian Authority's education ministry said classes would be cancelled for students in the Ramallah area on Monday because of safety concerns.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for the suspected attacker to be the first person executed under a recently approved death penalty law. The law imposes the death penalty by default on Palestinians from the West Bank convicted on terror charges for deadly attacks, and sets it as a possible penalty for Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Separately, Israel's military said troops killed a man who attempted to ram soldiers with a vehicle near Ganim, a newly re-established settlement near Jenin. The Palestinian health ministry identified him as Sami Zwaideh, 32, and said Israeli forces shot and killed him in the Jenin area.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements there, which are illegal under international law, among about three million Palestinians.

According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data, Israeli forces or settlers have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war. Israeli figures show at least 49 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the territory during the same period.