ISRAEL launched a new crackdown in the occupied West Bank yesterday after a settler was shot dead on Tuesday night.

The lockdown around Nablus came as Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki accused the US of giving the green light to 1,285 new homes in illegal Israeli settlements.

Israeli occupation forces set up roadblocks and cordoned off and searched Palestinian villages around Nablus, searching for the suspects in Tuesday’s attack near the illegal Havat Gilad settlement.

The victim, identified as Raziel Shevah, was shot multiple times from a passing vehicle. He was taken to hospital and later died of his wounds.

Hundreds attended his funeral yesterday, at which hard-line pro-settler Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett spoke. Some chanted for “revenge.”

Havat Gilad is one of many Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, all of which are illegal under international law.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for the outpost, which is illegal under even Israeli law, to be retroactively added to the list of government-approved settlements in occupied Palestine.

And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said occupation forces “would do everything possible in order to apprehend the despicable murderer.”

Islamist resistance group Hamas praised the shooting as “heroic” but did not claim responsibility.

US ambassador to Israel David Friedman responded on Twitter: “Hamas praises the killers and [Palestinian Authority] laws will provide them financial rewards. Look no further to why there is no peace.”

The Palestinian Authority’s martyr’s fund supports the families of those killed by Israeli forces, along with Palestinian resistance fighters.

Mr Friedman did not mention what effect the annual $4 billion (£3bn) of US military aid to Israel has on the prospects for peace.

Meanwhile Mr Maliki said the latest settlement land grab was the result of US President Donald Trump’s recognition last month of Israel’s claim to Jerusalem as its capital.

And he attacked foreign states for failing to hold Israel to account, despite numerous UN resolutions condemning the occupation and illegal settlement.