An Israeli settler killed a young Palestinian protester in the northern West Bank on Thursday, officials said.

Medics identified the victim as Ady Maher Qadous, 19. He suffered several gunshots to the chest and died of internal bleeding at Rafidiyeh Hospital in Nablus, they said.

Approximately 70 villagers and other locals had marched out toward the illegal Yitzhar settlement and were protesting when a settler opened fire, a Palestinian Authority official said.

The official, Ghassan Daghlus, who monitors settler activity in the northern West Bank, said those responsible for the killing were from the Yitzhar settlement.

Earlier, locals accused settlers of setting fire to a car near Einabus village south of Yitzhar.

Next to the torched car, Daghlas said, the settlers spray-painted in Hebrew "we won't forget the evacuation," referring to the recent dismantling of an illegal settlement outpost not far from Yitzhar, on Jan. 12.

An Israeli civil administration spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment but a complaint was filed with the District Coordination Office, an army spokeswoman said.

An Israeli security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the civil administration was still investigating, confirmed that a settler was believed to be responsible.

The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that according to the complaint filed by the villagers, the settlers began beating the teenager after he threw rocks at them. They then shot him, the report said.