A Palestinian was killed Friday morning by a guard in an Israeli Occupation settlement in the northern occupied West Bank. 

The official Palestinian News Agency, Wafa, said, "This morning, Friday morning, Khaled Maher Nofal, 34, from the village of Ras Karkar, west of Ramallah, was martyred, after settlers shot him, on the mountain near the village."

Following the incident, Israeli Occupation soldiers stormed the village of Ras Karkar.

Residents of the village told AFP, "The occupation forces took his father and brother to identify his possessions, and they are still holding his body."

The army stated that "no weapon was found" in the possession of the young man, who the army described as a "attacker."

Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh condemned the killing of Maher Nofal, and said through a tweet that his killing came "after the settlers seized lands for the Nawfal family and placed mobile caravans there."

Residents of the village of Ras Karkar told AFP that the young Maher did not have any political affiliations and was quiet and loved his family and his son, stressing that his family's lands were located in the mountain that the settlers controlled.

The army said in a statement that Nofal "entered at 3:45 am to Sadeh Ephraim's farm in a car, got out of the car, running towards the farm owner’s house and shouting God is Great."

The Israeli army added, "At the same time, the farm guard spotted the man and alerted other guards who were sleeping, then the Palestinian rushed towards the guard and attacked him before another guard, who had just woken up, paralyzed him."

Palestinian sources said that "the martyr was an employee of the Finance Ministry, and he was married and had a 4-year-old child."

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.

Also read: Government eases COVID-19 restrictions in Gaza Strip