NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Three people were injured by settlers on Thursday in the northern West Bank village of Yanun, a PA official said.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an that settlers threw rocks and physically assaulted villagers who were tending their land in Nablus.

Five villagers were arrested by Israeli forces and taken to an unknown destination, Daghlas said.

The army also fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the villagers, in support of the settlers, who were trying to prevent the villagers from accessing their land, he added.

An Israeli army spokesman said that a clash occurred when Israeli civilians and Palestinians had gathered on a hill in the area.

"Initial reports indicated that Palestinians had used clubs and five were arrested," the spokesman said.

Two Israeli civilians were lightly injured, he added.

In 2011, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that settler attacks had increased by 50 percent on the previous year.

Washington-based think tank The Palestine Center found that the Nablus district experienced the majority of settler violence in 2011.

All settlements on occupied Palestinian land are illegal under international law.