Jerusalem
CNN
—
A Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli settlers in the West Bank on Saturday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said, naming him Mithqal Suleiman Abdel Halim Rayan, 27.
The ministry said he was shot in the head in Karawat Bani Hassan, west of Salfit, in the occupied northern West Bank.
Witnesses told Palestinian state news agency WAFA that settlers attacked and opened fire on a group of Palestinians. They said Layan was seriously injured and died soon after.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Envoys blamed “terrorist settlers” for the killings.
A local settler leader said the settler who shot Rayan “acted properly”.
“He saved his life from a rioting and rampaging terrorist mob,” said Yossi Dagan, head of the Shomron Regional Council, which represents Jewish settlers in the area.
The killings took place in land Israel occupied from Jordan in 1967. International law considers it illegal for Israeli settlers to live there.
Mr Dagan said:
