News / Palestine

Israeli troops shoot, injure two Palestinians in northern West Bank

Friday, 04 March 2016 6:46 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 04 March 2016 6:45 PM ]

A Palestinian paramedic looks after a protester during clashes with Israeli forces on March 4, 2016, following a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, outside the compound of the Israeli-run Ofer Prison near Betunia in the occupied West Bank. (©AFP)

Two Palestinians have sustained gunshot wounds when Israeli military forces clashed with a group of Palestinian protesters in the northern part of the occupied West Bank and fired gunshots to disperse the crowd.

On Friday, dozens of Palestinians held a weekly demonstration in the town of Kafr Qaddum, located about 13 kilometers (eight miles) west of Nablus, against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel as well as the closure of the town’s southern road.

Murad Shteiwi, the Coordinator for Popular Resistance in Kafr Qaddum, said violence broke out when Israeli soldiers intervened and fired live bullets to break up the protest.

Khalid Murad Shteiwi, an 11-year-old boy, was struck in the right thigh and wounded. Israeli soldiers shot and injured a 45-year-old man, identified by the first name Jumaa, as he was transferring the wounded child to an ambulance.

Meanwhile, an illegal Israeli settler has been reportedly injured in an alleged stabbing attack near the ancient Wailing Wall in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Israeli forces sealed the area after the incident and launched a manhunt operation to arrest the attacker, a 15-year-old Palestinian teenage boy.

A Palestinian protester holds stones as an Israeli military vehicle drives down a road during clashes on March 4, 2016, following a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, outside the compound of the Israeli-run Ofer Prison near Betunia in the occupied West Bank. (©AFP)

The occupied Palestinian territories have been the scene of heightened tensions triggered by Israel’s imposition in August 2015 of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.

The restrictions have enraged Palestinians, who are also angry at increasing violence by Israeli settlers frequently storming the al-Aqsa Mosque. The Palestinians say the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status quo of the compound.

More than 190 Palestinians, including children and women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of last October.

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