(CNN) -- The Israeli military said early Thursday it shot and killed a Palestinian trying to infiltrate the Barqan settlement in the northern West Bank.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, its soldiers opened fire after they identified a number of Palestinians infiltrating the settlement.

But a Palestinian official said Israeli troops opened fire on three men who were headed to work in the community.

"A group of Palestinian laborers were on their way to work at the Barqan settlement at 4:30 a.m. The military shot at the group and killed one, injured another and one fled the scene," according to Ghassan Douglas, who said the three men were unarmed.

"These are Palestinian laborers that have to resort to the industrial settlement of Barqan in search of an income and this is not the first incident of this kind that the military shoots at Palestinian laborers on their way to work."

Palestinian authorities consider Barqan an illegal settlement.