Top church leaders in the Holy Land have condemned intensifying Israeli settler violence on the only entirely Christian Palestinian village remaining in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian authorities and family members said Israeli settlers beat and killed a Palestinian-American man. Israel said the violence began when Palestinians threw stones at Israeli civilians.

U.S. citizen Sayafollah Musallet, 20, also known as Saif, was severely beaten in the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the ministry said. Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23 was shot in the chest.