The Palestinian Ministry of Health stated that Israeli occupation forces killed a Palestinian boy and injured three others during a military incursion in the occupied West Bank on Monday.

With the death of the young man Yazan Ishtayeh (17 years old), the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or armed settlers since Friday rises to six, while Palestinian authorities reported an increase in settler attacks across the West Bank.

An Israeli border police spokesperson said that undercover forces from the border police, in cooperation with the Israeli army, carried out an operation in the city of Nablus to arrest a suspect.

The spokesperson added that during the operation, riots occurred in which a person threw an explosive device at the forces and was shot dead by the undercover unit.

Medics and civilians said that hundreds of armed Jewish settlers raided Palestinian villages near the city of Ramallah over the weekend, blocked roads, set fire to homes and cars, and shot at civilians.

The Israeli authorities said that the escalation began after the disappearance of a 14-year-old Israeli boy in the West Bank. His body was discovered on Saturday in what Israel called a suspected armed attack.

The U.S. State Department condemned the killing of the Israeli boy and also expressed increasing concern over the violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

In one of the incidents recorded on video and published by the Israeli human rights organization "Yesh Din" on Sunday, a group of masked settlers was seen setting fire to a car in a town in the West Bank while being watched by at least three Israeli soldiers.

The Israeli army responded to the video by stating: "The behavior of the soldiers in the video does not conform with the values and orders of the army. An investigation into the incident is underway, and the soldiers will be dealt with accordingly."

Violence in the West Bank had already been escalating before the Israeli attack on Gaza, which was prompted by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7. Since then, violence has intensified, with increased Israeli military raids, settler violence, and Palestinian street attacks.

In addition to more than 33,000 Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza, according to authorities run by Hamas, the Palestinian Ministry of Health states that at least 466 people in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers.

During the same period, at least 13 Israelis, including two members of the Israeli security forces, were killed by Palestinians in the West Bank, according to an Israeli count.

Palestinians have long sought to establish an independent state in the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Most countries consider Israeli settlements on occupied land to be illegal, a view opposed by Israel.