NABLUS, West Bank, Oct 11 (AFP) - A Palestinian farmer was wounded by Israeli gunfire in the northern West Bank on Monday during a row with Jewish settlers, Palestinian witnesses said.
Hani Shahadeh, 28, was harvesting olives in fields near Assira al-Qibliya village when a group of Israelis from a nearby Jewish settlement tried to throw him off his land.
As the two sides began to scuffle, Israeli troops arrived on the scene and both the settlers and the soldiers began firing towards the Palestinians, hitting Shahadeh in the neck, witnesses told AFP.
Israeli police spokesman Shlomo Sagi told AFP that settlers had begun throwing stones at local olive pickers and that Palestinians responded in kind.
A lightly-wounded Palestinian turned up at a nearby checkpoint, he said, adding that it was unclear whether the man had been hit by a stone or a bullet.
Under investigation, the settlers claimed one of the Palestinians had tried to grab one of their guns so they had fired in the air twice, Sagi said.
He denied that troops had opened fired during the incident.
Meanwhile, three Palestinians, including an 11-year-old girl, were shot and wounded Monday by Israeli troops in the Balata refugee camp, next to Nablus. Their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.