Israeli settler kills Palestinian man south of Hebron in occupied West Bank

An Israeli settler has shot and killed a Palestinian man in Teneh Omarim settlement in the occupied West Bank on Friday morning. 

Israeli news outlets alleged that the young man, identified as Alaa Khalil Qaisiyeh (21), had entered the settlement "carrying a knife", Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported.

The Israeli settler claimed that the young man was "intending" to carry out a stabbing attack near the synagogue, reports said.

Teneh Omarim is an illegal Israeli settlement built on top of land belonging to Ad-Dhahiriya, a Palestinian city southwest of Hebron, reported Ma'an, and was home to Qaisiyeh.

Following the incident, Israeli forces carried out a search of the area and closed off entry to the settlement.

Friday’s killing comes amid a steady escalation in violence against Palestinians over the last two years and brings the total number of Palestinian deaths by Israeli forces and settlers since the beginning of this year to 161, including 36 in the Gaza Strip and 26 children, reported Arab48 news agency.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal by the bulk of the international community, as they breach the fourth Geneva Convention that explicitly forbids an occupying power from transferring its civilian population to occupied territory. However, the Israeli government has actively encouraged settlement construction and expansion, considering only those settlement outposts built without its approval to be illegal. 

Meanwhile, rights groups have repeatedly criticised Israel's "appalling disregard for human life" through the use of "reckless and unlawful lethal force against Palestinians".

"Palestinians were deliberately shot dead, despite posing no imminent threat to life, in what appear to be extrajudicial executions," Amnesty International has said.