JERUSALEM

An Israeli was killed on Saturday from wounds sustained when his car was shot at in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.

In a statement, the Israeli army said its forces are currently in the Qalqiliya area after confirming the death of an Israeli citizen shortly after he was shot in the area.

The army and police forces are investigating the circumstances of the incident, it added.

The Israeli army did not specify why the illegal settler entered the Palestinian city.

Israeli Army Radio suggested the shooting was suspected to be an attack motivated by “nationalist reasons” rather than a criminal incident.

Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported that unidentified individuals opened fire on the Israeli and then fled the scene.

The incident "occurred less than a day after two members of the Islamic Jihad movement were killed in Qalqilya by Israeli army gunfire," it said.

According to the newspaper, army forces stormed the city of Qalqilya and were pursuing those who opened fire on the illegal settler.

Since last Oct. 7, at least 552 Palestinians have been killed, including 132 children, and nearly 5,200 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi