Israeli settlers shot dead a Palestinian in a confrontation in the West Bank on Thursday, Palestinian witnesses said.

Residents said Israeli settlers fired at 19-year-old Oday Kaddous after approaching him and his cousin in a field near the town of Nablus, giving no further details. Hospital officials said he had been shot in the chest.

An Israeli police spokesman said they were checking the report of a disturbance between groups of Israelis and Palestinians and the report that a Palestinian had been shot.

Jewish settlers and Palestinians often clash in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, though such confrontations have been relatively rare in recent months.