The Israel Defense Forces launched an investigation after a Palestinian man was shot dead in the southern West Bank on Saturday, amid an escalation in violence in the territory following the outbreak of the war in Iran.

According to the Palestinian Authority, Amir Shenaran, 27, was shot dead by a settler in the Palestinian village of Wadi al-Rakhim, in the collection of hamlets known as Masafer Yatta.

Palestinian media reported that his 33-year-old brother was critically wounded by settler gunfire in the same incident, while their father and uncle, as well as another woman, were reportedly hospitalized after being beaten by the settlers. The Palestinian reports said the brothers were shot while trying to fend off settlers who brought livestock to graze near the brothers’ family home.

But the IDF Military Police said a preliminary investigation had found that the shooter was a reservist soldier who arrived on the scene after being alerted to the confrontations between Palestinians and settlers.

According to the IDF, troops and police officers were dispatched to a Palestinian village in the Masafer Yatta area “following a report of a violent confrontation between Israeli civilians and several Palestinians, in which several individuals were injured.”

“It is known that two Palestinians were hit by gunfire, and later one of them died of his wounds,” the army said.

Footage from the aftermath of the shooting showed a man in an IDF uniform........

© The Times of Israel