Feb. 12 (UPI) — A Palestinian man was shot dead by an Israeli man on Saturday as violence continues in the West Bank.
Mithqal Suleiman Abdel Halim Rayan, 27, was shot in the head in Qarawat Bani Hassan, a town in the occupied West Bank, officials said.
The Israeli army told The Times of Israel that Israeli soldiers were not involved in the fatal shooting but that it was aware of the case.
Witnesses said that Israeli settlers had opened fire on a group of Palestinians, the Palestinian news agency WAFA said in a statement.
The news came as WAFA said in a statement that three Palestinians were critically injured by Israeli gunfire during a military raid in the city of Jenin and its refugee camp.
Palestinian officials later said that the three people shot in the raid were children and that one of them, 14-year-old Qusai Radwan Waked, died from wounds he sustained from Israeli gunfire during the raid.
The European Union’s delegation to Palestine said in a statement that it was “saddened” by “yet another victim of settler violence.”
“The EU firmly condemns settler violence and is concerned about the growing number of settler attacks,” the European Union said in the statement.
“This kind of senseless violence will fuel the already tense situation and must stop. A rapid and transparent investigation is needed and perpetrators should be brought to justice.”
As noted by CNN, the shooting occurred on land that Israel captured from Jordan in 1967 and that it is considered illegal under international law for Israeli settlers to live there.