A prominent Palestinian activist who had worked on an Oscar-winning documentary was killed on Monday during an attack by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, according to local journalists and officials.

Khamis Ayyad, 40, died of smoke inhalation after settlers set fire to vehicles in town of Silwad, Health Ministry says.

Palestinians in the village of Susiya in the Israeli-occupied West Bank thought life could not get worse as Jewish settlers were attacking them repeatedly and ripping apart their precious olive groves.