Two Palestinians were killed by gunfire during a brawl with settlers between the Jewish town of Gitit and the Palestinian town of Aqraba in the eastern West Bank, according to a report by the army radio on Monday.
The army informed the Palestinian authorities that the two killed were Abdalrahman Maher, 30, and Muhammad Ashraf Bani Jama, 21, with a third person having received upper body wounds during the fight.
There are conflicting reports from both settlers and Palestinians as to the cause and nature of the brawl.
According to a report received by the army, the settlers arrived in the area after around 50 Palestinians reportedly assaulted a Jewish shepherd with clubs and stones. The scene quickly devolved into mutual stone-throwing.
On the other hand, Palestinian sources say that the fighting broke out in a Palestinian-owned agricultural area and that a group of around 50 settlers quickly descended on the area. The Palestinian Red Crescent said that the army had prevented it from reaching the area.
Settlers claimed they were not responsible for killing the Palestinians, saying that the army arrived and found itself in a "life-threatening situation," which led to the shooting.
The army denies this and claims it was not present in the area when the deadly confrontation occurred but that when it arrived on the scene, a number of settlers fled immediately.
Troops then fired a few shots into the air to disperse the crowd and specified that at no point did they feel threatened.
Following the dispersal, troops claim to have heard more gunshots in areas where they were not present. They rushed to the scene and found the two Palestinians lifeless on the ground, having been shot.
Police have opened an investigation but have not arrested any suspects.
West Bank violence
This is the latest incident in the recent flair-up in violence between settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank.
The latest flair-up was started when 14-year-old shepherd Binyamin Achimair disappeared on Friday. Later that day, there was some violence when groups involved in the search for Binyamin clashed with Palestinians in the nearby town of Al-Mughayyir.
The discovery of Binyamin's body nearby caused another flash of violence in the Palestinian town of Duma, where settlers set cars on fire, and one person was killed by settler gunfire, according to Palestinian sources.
President Isaac Herzog pushed for calm and cessation of violence, calling on Israelis to be lawful and not impede the security services operations.