BEIT DAJAN – Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian on Friday as demonstrators protesting against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank hurled rocks at soldiers, a Reuters witness said.

The man was shot in the head during a protest near the villlage of Beit Dajan, near Nablus, and was taken to a hospital where he later died, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The Israeli military said it was examining the incident.

A Reuters photographer said a group of Palestinians threw stones at two Israeli soldiers posted at the protest, and the soldiers then opened fire.

The Israeli military said that “dozens of Palestinian rioters hurled rocks” at its troops, who “responded with riot dispersal means and by firing into the air”.

“We are aware of reports regarding a Palestinian casualty. The cause of the injury is still unknown. The incident is being examined,” it said.

Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel illegally captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

The protest in Beit Dajan, near the city of Nablus, was a weekly demonstration against Israel’s West Bank settlements.

The Palestinians, who have limited self-rule in the West Bank, say Israel’s settlements there will deny them a viable state. Most countries view the settlements as illegal under international law.

Israel disputes this, citing security needs as well as biblical and historical ties to the land. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014.

– Reuters report, edited for style