Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man at a checkpoint in northern West Bank, witnesses and local reports said Sunday.

The soldiers fired at the Palestinian as he was passing through Bekaot checkpoint to the east of Nablus city.

Israel's Radio reported that Palestinian neglected soldiers' orders to stop and was about to stab a soldier with a knife.

However, local Palestinian Maan news agency, quoted a Palestinian eyewitness as saying that the Palestinian was carrying "a Coca-Cola can."

A hospital official in the nearby Tubas town told Xinhua that the Palestinian man was Ahmad Mussalami, 25 years old. "He was shot in many parts of his body," the official said.

The witnesses said that the soldiers were a few meters away from Mussalami when they shot him who was travelling to Jericho City where he works.

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) controls the West Bank, but people moving between the territory's areas are required to pass through Israeli checkpoints, especially when entering C areas where Israel has security and administrative authority. The PNA- controlled A and B areas make up nearly 38 percent of the West Bank.