Soldiers went to disperse a gathering of Israelis near the central West Bank town of Kafr Malik overnight Friday to Saturday, the military said in a statement.

"Upon the arrival of the security forces, dozens of Israeli civilians hurled stones toward them and physically and verbally assaulted the soldiers, including the Battalion Commander," it said.

"In addition, the civilians vandalised and damaged security forces' vehicles, and attempted to ram the security forces," it added.

"The security forces dispersed the gathering, and six Israeli civilians were apprehended and transferred to the Israel Police for further processing."

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military declined to say whether those arrested were residents of Israeli settlements in the territory, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.

The military referred the query to the Israeli police, which was not available to comment.

In a separate incident on Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry said three men died in Kafr Malik in an attack by settlers.

AFP journalists saw several hundred people gather for the three men's funerals on Thursday.

The Palestinian foreign ministry alleged "official complicity" by Israel in Wednesday's attack, in a message on X.

"Israeli occupation forces prevented ambulance crews from reaching the wounded and obstructed civil defense teams from entering the village for several hours, allowing fires ignited by the settlers to spread and destroy dozens of homes," it said.

The Israeli military did not respond to a request by AFP to comment on those claims.

A military spokesman told AFP its forces intervened on Wednesday after "dozens of Israeli civilians set fire to property in Kafr Malik" and a "confrontation" involving "mutual rock-hurling" broke out between Israelis and Palestinians.

Referring to action by the Palestinians, the spokesman said: "Several terrorists fired from within Kafr Malik and hurled rocks at the forces, who opened fire toward the source of fire and the rock-hurlers."

Five Israelis were arrested, the military added.