West Bank village sealed amid settler march

Israeli forces shot and wounded at least one Palestinian, arrested at least three people and sealed the entrances to the occupied West Bank village of Tal on Friday as more than 100 Israeli settlers marched towards the community, residents said.

The operation came a week after a settler attack left four Palestinians and two Israelis dead, an incident Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government described as terrorism, although video later emerged showing armed settlers shoving Palestinians.

Palestinian residents say they were defending themselves against settler attacks aimed at forcing them from their land, the latest in a three-year surge in settler violence across the occupied West Bank. Munther Shtayya, vice-president of the local council, said at least 24 residents of Tal remained in Israeli custody.

Since last Friday, the Israeli military has carried out near-daily raids and

arrests in Tal, near Nablus in the northern West Bank, where most countries and United Nations bodies regard Israeli settlements as illegal, a position rejected by Israel.