Israeli forces open fire on West Bank anti-settlement protest, injuring nine

Israeli forces on Wednesday evening violently suppressed an anti-settlement rally in a town south of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, injuring eight protestors and causing dozens to suffocate.

Ahmad Jibril, the head of the Emergency and Ambulance Department at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), said Israeli forces began shooting in the direction of protesters in Beita campaigning against the construction of a new illegal settlement on Mount Sbeih.

Eight Palestinians were hit by rubber-coated steel bullets and dozens suffocated from tear gas fired by Israeli forces, Jibril added.

A ninth protestor was injured after being beaten by the soldiers.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces shot and killed Shadi Omar Lotfi Salim, 41, near the entrance of the town when he went to open the main water supply to the town.

"He was killed in cold blood," Beita's deputy mayor Mussa Hamayel said, adding that there had been no protests in the area Tuesday night.

The Israeli army issued a statement alleging that while on duty soldiers "spotted a Palestinian suspect in the area", south of Nablus. 

Rights groups have repeatedly accused Israeli forces of using "unnecessary and excessive force" and carrying out extrajudicial killings of Palestinians.