At least 17 Palestinians were injured by Israeli occupation forces today during the weekly protest in the village of Kafr Qaddum against Israeli settlement construction, in the West Bank province of Qalqilia, local sources said.

Morad Shtewi, a local anti-occupation activist, told WAFA that Israeli soldiers attacked the protesters with rubber-coated rounds and tear gas canisters, injuring 17 of them by rubber-coated rounds and causing many cases of suffocation from gas inhalation.

All of the injured protesters were treated at the scene of the clashes.

For many years, villagers from Kafr Qaddum and neighboring villages have been holding weekly protests every Friday against illegal Israeli settlement construction.

Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across the occupied Palestinian Territories in violation of international law.

Source: Palestine New & Info Agency