A Palestinian shepherd has been stabbed to death outside the West Bank town of Aqraba, a Palestinian official said on Monday. Jawdat Bani-Jaber, mayor of Aqraba, accused West Bank settlers of being behind the killing.

The shepherd disappeared with his flock of sheep late on Sunday night and his body was found on Monday in a valley outside of Aqraba, south of the West Bank city of Nablus.

"I charge the Israeli settlers with the killing," Bani-Jaber said. "I also blame the Israeli army because several incidents have taken place in Aqraba and the army provides no protection to farmers."

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Yishai Hollander, a spokesman for the Yesha Council of Settlements, said he was not familiar with the incident.

"It is natural for them to blame the settlers, but in fact there are enough Arabs killing Arabs," Hollander said.

Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the body was found between two Palestinian villages and had been transferred to Israel for an autopsy. The police have opened an investigation.