RAMALLAH, West Bank March 7 - Palestinian health officials said a 27-year-old man was shot dead by an Israeli settler on Saturday in the Masafer Yatta village area near the city of Hebron.
The Palestinian Health Ministry, corroborated by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, reported the fatality and identified the location as Masafer Yatta. The ministry provided the age of the victim and noted the shooting occurred on Saturday.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the incident, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Masafer Yatta is listed among locations where the United Nations has recorded increasing displacement of Palestinians, driven in part by a sharp rise in settler violence over the past two years, the Health Ministry noted citing UN findings.
The Saturday killing follows another recent deadly attack in the West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that two Palestinian brothers were shot dead by an Israeli on Monday near the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the military police were investigating a reserve soldier in connection with Monday's shooting.
Context and immediate details
The available information is limited to the accounts provided by the Palestinian Health Ministry and the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, and to reporting that a military police investigation is under way regarding an earlier, separate shooting near Nablus. There has been no immediate public comment from the Israeli military on the Saturday incident in Masafer Yatta.
Humanitarian and security concerns
According to the Health Ministry's report and UN references cited by that ministry, Masafer Yatta is among areas experiencing growing displacement tied to settler-related violence. The reported killing on Saturday adds to recent fatal incidents in the occupied West Bank.
Further details about the circumstances of the shooting on Saturday, including motive, identity of the assailant beyond the description "an Israeli settler," and any legal or military follow-up, were not provided in the statements cited by Palestinian authorities.
Reporting was based on statements from the Palestinian Health Ministry and WAFA, and on reporting that the Israeli military police are investigating a separate recent shooting near Nablus.