Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised Jewish settlers who assault Palestinians or Israeli security personnel in the occupied West Bank, calling them a "marginal minority".

Alluding to violent protests and attacks perpetrated since the attempted removal of an unauthorised settlement last week, Netanyahu told a parliamentary panel: "Israel shall not tolerate or accept any attacks on Arab residents as a means of protest against the government."

Netanyahu said he was referring to "a small and marginal minority, a small extremist group of among our brothers, the settlers.

some of whom also have assaulted Israeli security officers to resist removal from illegal encampments.

Jewish settlers shot and wounded 10 Palestinians while a settler was also hurt in a confrontation that erupted on Monday in the Nablus area of the West Bank, land Israel captured in a 1967 war and which Palestinians seek for a future state.

Settlers have assaulted Israeli security officers to resist removal from illegal encampments.

Israeli officials have said Netanyahu was preparing to introduce a new plan aimed at reviving peace talks with the Palestinians, which broke down last year over the issue of settlements.

About 500,000 settlers live among 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.