Settler Hit by Stone Throwers Shoots Palestinian Dead in West Bank

A Palestinian man was killed and a photographer was wounded after an Israeli settler opened fire at stone-throwers in the West Bank.

• Settler Defends Killing of Palestinian: They Almost Lynched Me
• IDF: Settler Shoots Stone-throwers, Palestinian Hurt

Israeli soldiers were at the scene at the time of the shooting. According to the army, 200 Palestinians were protesting near the village of Hawara, south of Nablus, in support of the hunger-striking security prisoners in Israel. Some of them were throwing stones. The army said the Israeli who shot at the protesters may have been hit by the stones. The army and local settlers claim the man first shot in the air.

>> Settler Defends Killing of Palestinian: They Almost Lynched Me

An eyewitness told Haaretz that a number of Palestinian youths blocked the road near Hawara. He claimed that a settler who had been driving by pulled out a gun and fired at them.

Israeli forces are at the scene and are using riot dispersal means to break up the protest.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the victim as Moataz Hussein Taya, 23, from the village of Bita. They confirmed that one of the wounded was an Associated Press photographer who suffered moderate wounds after being shot in the arm.

A settler regional council in the northern West Bank confirmed the shooter was a settler, a social worker and a father of eight who was running errands. They said that he first fired in the air.

The shooter, a resident of the nearby settlement of Itamar, has filed a complaint with the police.

On Wednesday, an Israeli settler opened fire at Palestinians who were throwing stones at passing Israeli vehicles on the West Bank's main thoroughfare. According to Israel Defense Forces reports, a Palestinian, Rasem Khamed 19, sustained moderate wounds. The shooter in question claimed to have acted in self-defense and was later released.