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Palestinian killed in West Bank clash ahead of statehood bid

At a time of heightened diplomatic tension between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian man is shot dead in a clash with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.
Israeli border police arrest a Palestinian youth for throwing stones at their checkpoint in Ras Al-Amud neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Friday.
Israeli border police arrest a Palestinian youth for throwing stones at their checkpoint in Ras Al-Amud neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Friday.Sliman Khader / AP
/ Source: msnbc.com news services

Israeli security forces shot dead a Palestinian in the West Bank on Friday during a confrontation in his village with Jewish settlers, Palestinian officials said.

Tensions have been growing between Palestinians and settlers who stake a biblical claim to the West Bank, as the Palestinian leadership on Friday

sought full U.N. membership

for a state partly on the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Hany Abu Murad, mayor of Qusra village where the violence occurred, named the dead man as Essam Kamal who was in his mid-30s.

The Israeli army said it had used live ammunition after settlers and Palestinians began throwing stones at each other during the confrontation in Qusra, southeast of Nablus. This was also the scene on September 5 of an arson attack on a mosque that was blamed on Jewish settlers.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked the United Nations on Friday to recognize a state for his people, even though the United States has vowed to veto the move.

Palestinians have recorded a marked increase in settler attacks on their property in the West Bank in last few weeks. Settlers held rallies this week to press their claim to the territory, highlighting their opposition to the Palestinians' plans. The Palestinian Authority has warned of deliberate efforts by settlers to provoke violence.

During Friday's incident, the Israeli army said in a statement that 300 Palestinians had "incited a violent riot, during which Palestinians hurled rocks at security personnel."

"Security personnel used riot dispersal means and eventually, live fire. As a result, Palestinian sources reported that three rioters were injured. Initial reports suggest that one of them was wounded and subsequently passed away," it said.

Qusra is one of the villages where Palestinian volunteers have recently set up a neighborhood watch in what they describe as an unarmed effort to deter settler attacks.

Palestinians complain that the Israeli army does little or nothing to protect them from the settlers, instead shielding the settlers when Palestinians confront them.

B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, also says the Israeli authorities have failed to protect Palestinians and their property from settlers in the occupied territory.