Israeli troops attack Palestinian protesters; eleven wounded

At least eleven Palestinians have been injured and three others arrested when Israeli forces attacked a group of Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank. 

On Friday, dozens of Palestinians held a demonstration in the village of Nabi Salih, located 20 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of Ramallah, to express their resentment over illegal Israeli settlements as well as the construction of the separation wall which snakes across the occupied West Bank, isolating large swathes of Palestinian territories.

Violence erupted when Israeli soldiers stormed the Palestinians and used batons to disperse the crowd. They then fired tear gas canisters, stun grenades and live bullets at protesters.

One Palestinian protester was shot in the leg while ten others suffered multiple bruises from beatings by the batons.

Israeli forces also kidnapped three Palestinians during the demonstration.

Earlier in the day, three Palestinians, among them a 10-year-old boy identified as Ahmad Daas, were injured as Israeli forces attacked protesting Palestinians in the town of Kafr Qaddum, located about 13 kilometers (8 miles) west of Nablus.

Separately, a 17-year-old boy was shot in the ankle on Friday, when Israeli troops opened fire on more than 100 Palestinian protesters at Jalazone refugee camp, about seven kilometers (4.3 miles) north of Ramallah.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 settlements, built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem al-Quds, in 1967.

The Israeli settlements are considered illegal by the United Nations and most countries because the territories were captured by Israel in the war in 1967 and are thus subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.

MP/NN/HRB

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