A PALESTINIAN man was shot and killed by an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank today.

The violence was the latest to grip Israel and the West Bank during one of the deadliest periods in years.

Palestinian authorities identified the man as Abed al-Sheikh. 

His father, Badaie al-Sheikh, said Israeli security forces searched his house, interrogated him and confiscated his son’s phone in the nearby Palestinian village of Saniriya.

Mr Sheikh is said by the Israeli military to have entered a settlement in the occupied northern West Bank settlement of Karnei Shomron, armed with knives and explosive devices and was shot and killed by an Israeli settler.

The incident took place just hours after a Palestinian gunman shot and wounded Israelis in downtown Tel Aviv.

Hamas claimed the attacker, a former prisoner named Moataz Khawaja, was a member of the organisation’s armed wing. 

Hamas said the shooting came in response to an Israeli military arrest raid that day that led to three Palestinian fighters being killed in the northern village of Jaba.

“We promise more painful strikes throughout our occupied land as long as [Israel’s] aggression continues and its crimes escalate,” Hamas said.

This comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to be airlifted on Thursday to the country’s main international airport for an official overseas trip after throngs of cars and protesters prevented him from driving there.

The demonstrations were part of a series nationwide protests which have been ongoing for more than two months against Netanyahu and his ultra-right-wing government’s contentious plan to overhaul the judiciary.

At least 75 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli weapons fire during military arrest raids and other confrontations so far this year. 

A series of attacks by Palestinians against Israelis has left at least 14 Israelis dead over the same period.