Beit Hagai is one of the most volatile Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank [EPA]
Beit Hagai is one of the most volatile Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank [EPA]
Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian man who allegedly threw petrol bombs towards the settlement of Beit El, close to Ramallah on Friday.
Three Palestinians have been killed in separate incidents in the West Bank, Israeli army and Palestinian sources have said.
Elsewhere, Israeli troops killed a man who had been protesting against Israel's separation barrier, Palestinians said.
Basem Abu Rahmeh, 30, died after being hit at close range with a tear gas cannister.
Protests near the village of Bilin are held almost weekly as Palestinians argue that the barrier being constructed is taking their land and jeopardising any future Palestinian state.
Protesters threw stones and other objects at Israeli forces during the demonstration, the Israeli military said.
Abdallah Abu Rahmeh, a witness who took part in the protest, said Abu Rahmeh, a distant relative, was talking to soldiers when troops fired the cannisters.
"Basem was in the front line of the protest and soldiers fired tear gas at us and one hit Basem in the chest," he said.
"He was about 40 metres away from the soldiers. There was no stone-throwing when Basem was shot."
Hebron killing
Earlier, Jewish settlers shot a teenager, alleging that he had tried to attack residents of the West Bank settlement of Hebron.
Residents said the community's "emergency squad" was dispatched after learning a Palestinian had "infiltrated" the area.
A man in Beit Hagai said: "My friend asked him who he was, and the man drew a knife. My friend took my gun and killed the terrorist."
Zviki Bar Hai, a settlement community leader, said the Palestinian was walking around the community, but did not enter any of the houses, YNet News reported.
Palestinian sources contest the account, arguing that it would have been impossible for the young man to have entered the heavily guarded illegal settlement. They said the body showed signs of having been beaten after death.
There have been no claims of responsibility from Palestinian groups for the incident.
Earlier this month, a Palestinian man killed a 13-year-old boy and wounded a seven-year-old with an axe in Beit Ayin, another Israeli settlement in the West Bank.
US envoy
George Mitchell, the Middle East envoy of Barack Obama, the US president, is visiting the region in an effort to move forward stalled peace talks.
Palestinian officials told him on Friday that the US must press Israel's new government, headed by Binyamin Netanyahu, to accept the principle of a two-state solution.
Netanyahu's government is dominated by people who favour military action, and have suggested Israeli concessions would allow Palestinians to threaten Israel's security.
A Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces today while protesting the separation wall in the West Bank village of Nilin. Another protester, who is 15, was wounded. 

Aqel Srur, who was 35, died in an ambulance while en route to a local hospital. He had been fatally shot once in the heart. Palestinians were fired upon by Israeli forces after they began to throw stones at the soldiers. Palestinian officials say Srur was shot once with a single round of live ammunition, something an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) spokesperson could not confirm.

According to the spokesperson, the IDF used "riot dispersal means," which included metal bullets coated with rubber and tear gas.

Srur was protesting Israel's separation barrier, which spans 723km and surrounds West Bank cities, separating them from one another. Israel says the separation walls are needed for security reasons, but Palestinians say it turns their villages into prisons. 

Palestinian and international activists have gathered almost every Friday for the last two years to protest the separation barrier in Nilin. In many cases the protests end with violence. In April, Basem Abu Rahmeh, age 30 was shot and killed by Israeli forces, also while protesting the Israeli separation wall in Bilin.

Construction of the wall began in 2002 and is set to surround the West Bank which was annexed by Israel in 1967. In 2004 it was deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice.