Palestinian shot during West Bank settler march

One Palestinian was shot and wounded Friday during an Israeli settler march through several Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank, first responders, the Israeli army and an AFP journalist said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its crews in Nablus were treating a young man shot with live ammunition in the abdomen during what it called an Israeli army and settler raid on the al-Junaid area.

Israeli settlers organised the march in the northern West Bank in memory of two Israelis killed last week during clashes in the Palestinian town of Tell, near Nablus. Four Palestinians were also killed in those clashes.

An AFP journalist at the scene said between 100 and 150 settlers, including women and children, came near Tell from the west, from the direction of Havat Gilad, the home settlement of one of the Israelis killed last week. About 10 of the settlers were armed, the journalist said.

The settlers marched through fields near Tell, through the nearby town of Sarra and the Nablus neighbourhood of al-Junaid. The AFP journalist said Israeli troops along the route periodically dispersed settlers and Palestinians when clashes occurred.

The journalist saw settlers raid at least one building in Tell and four in al-Junaid, where a clash broke out with Palestinian youths before the army dispersed the crowd with tear gas.

The Israeli army said Palestinians in al-Junaid threw rocks at Israeli civilians and that an Israeli civilian fired warning shots into the air. It said soldiers deployed in the area dispersed the gathering and evacuated the civilians.

The army said a Palestinian was shot in a later incident in the area after Palestinians threw rocks at soldiers. It said soldiers responded with a suspect apprehension protocol that included firing toward what it called a primary instigator.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, excluding east Jerusalem, among around three million Palestinians. Settlements in the territory are illegal under international law.