Israeli settlers torch West Bank village

Dozens of Israeli settlers have set fire to houses and cars in a village in the occupied West Bank, with the Palestinian health ministry saying at least one person was killed.

The settlers - some of them wearing masks - threw rocks and Molotov cocktails as they attacked the village of Jit, near the town of Nablus, on Thursday evening, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

The Palestinian health ministry said a local villager in his early 20s was killed and another person critically injured in the chest. The IDF said it was examining the report of the fatality, reports BBC.

Israeli political leaders condemned the attack, pledging to punish the perpetrators. One Israeli national was detained in Jit, the IDF said.

In a statement, the IDF said its forces were deployed in the village "within minutes" of receiving reports of violence, shooting in the air to disperse the crowds. Attackers were then removed from Jit.

The IDF added that an investigation was launched by the IDF, Israel's security agency Shin Bet and the Israeli police following the "serious incident".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that "those responsible for any criminal act will be caught and prosecuted".

Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote in a post on X: "This is an extreme minority that harms the law-abiding community of settlers and the settlement as a whole and in the name and status of Israel in the world during a particularly sensitive and difficult period.

"Law enforcement officials must act immediately" to bring those responsible to justice, Mr Herzog added.