One Palestinian was killed and another 25 injured in clashes between angry Israeli settlers and residents in a village near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday, Palestinian health officials said.
Settlers entered the village of al-Mughayyir, 20 kilometres north-east of Ramallah, with firearms after a 14-year-old by from their illegal settlement disappeared while tending a herd of animals.
Israeli media reported that Israeli security forces initially entered al-Mughayyir to search for the settler boy. Palestinian residents responded by throwing stones and incendiary devices at the soldiers. Three soldiers reportedly suffered minor injuries.
Hundreds of settlers then entered and rampaged across the village to destroy Palestinian property, according to witnesses. Fire was set to dozens of cars and several houses, the village administration said.
It was not possible to independently verify the claims made by both sides.
Since the beginning of the war between Israel and the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip on October 7, the number of acts of violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has risen.
Clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian militants have also become more frequent.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 442 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, confrontations or their own attacks in the West Bank since October 7.