Even the prospect of civil war cannot be ruled out,' an expert tracking growing violence in the West Bank told Newsweek.

A Palestinian American man was beaten to death by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, says the Palestinian Health Ministry, prompting his family to demand that the U.S. lead an investigation.

Israeli settlers have attacked a military base in the occupied West Bank, setting fires, vandalizing vehicles and clashing with soldiers.

Palestinian-American Saifullah Kamel Musallet, 20, was visiting family in the West Bank when he was beaten to death by Israeli settlers, his family told CBS News.

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.

SINJIL, West Bank (Reuters) -A five-metre-high metal fence slices across the eastern edge of Sinjil, a Palestinian town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Heavy steel gates and roadblocks seal off all but a single route in and out of the town, watched over by Israeli soldiers at guard posts.

This week's attack follows a similar one last month when men set fire to vehicles in Taybeh and in the nearby village of Kafr Malik, where three Palestinians were killed.