THE Israeli army killed a Palestinian man today in the occupied West Bank.

This came a day after top United States envoys met with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to persuade him to move into the second phase of the ceasefire agreement agreed in October last year.

The shooting of the man, identified as Ammar Hijazi from Nablus, took place north of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The Wafa news agency said Mr Hijazi was killed by the Israelis while driving a vehicle.

There has been no immediate comment on the attack by the Israelis.

Separately, the Israeli military arrested a child in the village of Mukhmas in the central West Bank, according to Wafa.

Israeli settlers have also been intensifying their attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank as Israel has expanded its illegal settlement programme in the territory.

Settlers also attacked a Palestinian family today and injured a woman near Hebron.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir approved a huge hike in gun licences last week to Israelis in 18 additional illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Many experts have described the expansion of illegal outposts as a way for the Israeli government to undermine the prospects for a two-state solution to end the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Following Mr Netanyahu’s meeting with with US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser, a US source told reporters the envoys had been working closely with Mr Netanyahu on recovering the remains of the last hostage in Gaza, and on the next steps for demilitarising the territory.

Mr Netanyahu faces pressure to wait until Hamas returns the hostage’s remains.

The family of Ran Gvili, whose body is still in Gaza, accuse Hamas of  “deceiving the international community and refusing to return our son, the last remaining hostage, in what constitutes a clear violation of the agreement it signed.”

Hamas said Wednesday it has provided “all information” it has on Mr Gvili’s remains to ceasefire mediators, and accused Israel of obstructing search efforts in areas it controls in Gaza. 

Many Palestinians believe that phase one has been continually violated by the Israelis with more than 400 people being killed since the ceasefire took effect on October 10.