lsraeli settler kills Palestinian man who was picking olives from his agricultural land in West Bank

A Palestinian man was killed on Saturday by an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, with a settler leader identifying the shooter as an off-duty soldier.

Bilal Abu Salah, 40, was "shot in the chest by a settler" in the village of Sawiya near Nablus in the northern West Bank, a ministry statement said.

Sawiya mayor Mahmud Hassan told reporters that Abu Salah had been killed while harvesting olives with his family in their groves, located near the fence surrounding the nearby Israeli settlement of Rechelim.

"They were attacked by four settlers, and one of them who was armed with an M16 rifle opened fire at them without warning," Hassan said, a claim denied by settler leader Yosi Dagan.

Dagan, head of the Samaria settler council, said Palestinians had attacked the Israeli group "with rocks and boulders, endangering their lives."

A soldier on leave fired his military-issued rifle in defence "and saved the family," Dagan said in a statement.

Hassan, the Palestinian village head, said "Abu Salah was hit in the chest and was martyred in front of his family and children."

The Israeli army said it was aware of "a violent confrontation between a number of Palestinians and Israeli civilians," and that police were investigating the incident.