Israeli settler kills elderly Palestinian woman in hit-and-run attack

An Israeli settler killed an elderly Palestinian woman in a hit-and-run attack on Friday afternoon near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

The settler rammed hid vehicle into the woman, who was identified as Ghadir Anis Abdullah Fuqaha, 63, of Sinjil town, northeast of Ramallah, according to security sources cited by the Palestinian Authority's Wafa news agency.

She was instantly killed at the entrance of the town, leaving the settler to escape, security sources added.

Sinjil mayor Hazem Tawafsha said in a Facebook post that Fuqaha was with her husband at the town entrance, close to the settler-only bypass Road 60 and was waiting for a taxi.

Fuqaha's death comes amid an increase in violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers. Settler violence is common in the occupied territories, with the attacks going unpunished by occupying forces and authorities.

On Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Israeli government is to blame for an "increase in terrorist attacks by Israeli settlers against defenceless Palestinian communities across the occupied West Bank."

Israel captured the West Bank and parts of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed them in a move not recognised internationally.

Since then, some 475,000 Jewish settlers slowly moved into the occupied West Bank, building settlements deemed illegal by much of the international community.