The man died after being shot in the chest, the Health Ministry in Ramallah said on Friday.

According to the Israeli army, about 700 Palestinians had set tyres on fire and thrown stones and Molotov cocktails at soldiers who then reacted to counter the unrest.

The man is the sixth fatality since protests against the settlers' outpost Eviatar near the city of Nablus erupted in the West Bank in May, according to the Palestinians.

Protesters frequently clash with the Israeli army.

Eviatar, consisting of 50 mobile homes, was originally supposed to be cleared because even according to Israeli criteria the settlement is considered illegal, several media outlets reported.

The nearby Palestinian village of Beita claims the land on which the settlement was built as part of its territory.

At the end of June, the settlers were said to have agreed with Israel's new government under Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to vacate Eviatar voluntarily and peacefully.

In return, the government agreed to consider the possibility of approving a settlement at the site.

About 600,000 Israelis live in more than 200 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Palestinians hope to make the capital of their future state.

Israel captured the West Bank as well as East Jerusalem and its historical Old City in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Israel itself distinguishes between illegal settlements and those built with Israeli permission.

From an international point of view, all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal.

Australian Associated Press