Palestinian officials say Israeli forces killed two men during West Bank settler attack

The Palestinian health ministry said Monday that Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian men when Israeli settlers attacked the town of Deir Jarir in the occupied West Bank overnight.

The Ramallah-based ministry identified the men as Odeh Abdul Rahim Odeh Farakhna, 53, and Ahmad Adel Rashid Abu Mkhou, 26. It said they were killed by Israeli gunfire in Deir Jarir.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its teams evacuated one other person who was wounded during a settler attack on the town late Sunday.

Israel's military gave a different account of the confrontation. It said troops were sent to Deir Jarir to protect and evacuate Israeli settlers who had entered the area to retrieve livestock. The military said a violent confrontation developed and that Palestinians hurled rocks and concrete blocks at the forces. It said troops responded with fire to remove the threat and that hits were identified.

Deir Jarir mayor Eid Hamad said the settlers had come to take livestock that did not belong to them. Speaking at the two men's funeral on Monday, he said settlers accompanied by the Israeli army and police reached the outskirts of the village and raided sheep pens belonging to local residents. He said they brought a truck and loaded sheep onto it.

Hamad said young men from the village arrived and confronted the settlers while they were there. He said the army then intervened and fired on the young men, causing casualties.

Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has increased since the start of the Gaza war, with rights groups and the United Nations reporting near-daily attacks by Israeli settlers. Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, among about three million Palestinians. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.

Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,090 Palestinians since the Gaza war began, including militants and civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data. Official Israeli figures show at least 46 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period.