Four Palestinians killed as Israeli settlers raid occupied West Bank town

One Israeli was also killed near town of Tal in Nablus, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services.Four Palestinians have been killed in an attack by Israeli forces and settlers southwest of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.Four other Palestinians were injured in the attack on the town of Tal, “three of them critically”, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement on Friday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US court affirms release of pro-Palestine scholar as legal battle continueslist 2 of 3Israel carries out blasts across south Lebanon despite ‘ceasefire’ deallist 3 of 3Trillion dollar US defence bill would deepen military ties with Israelend of listIsraeli health officials separately reported that one Israeli settler was killed and others injured in the area.The town of Tal, which is close to the illegal Israeli settlement of Havat Gilad, was attacked by Israeli settlers earlier on Friday, local and security sources said. The settlers opened live fire as Palestinians tried to protect their homes.Essam Saifi, a local leader in the Palestinian Fatah party from Tal, told the Reuters news agency ⁠in a phone call that about 25 to 30 Israeli settlers initially attacked the eastern ⁠area of the town and tried to break into ⁠two houses there. The residents came out to confront them and the settlers opened fire.Half an hour later, Saifi said, the Israelis returned ‌and attacked the western part of the town, striking a child with a weapon. This caused chaos, and the Israeli military ‌arrived and ‌started shooting, along with the settlers, he added.The Israeli army, however, said it had dispatched troops to the area near the Havat Gilad following what it called “an attack on Israelis hiking in the area”.The military claimed a Palestinian had stolen a weapon from local security personnel and fired at the Israeli settlers.According to Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue services, one Israeli was killed in the area and two wounded people were evacuated by helicopter.Reporting from Nablus, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said Friday’s incident took place after Israeli settlers stormed Tal under the “pretext that they were hiking in the area”.