Hundreds of Palestinians were injured on Friday during clashes across the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, medics said, as Palestinian political factions called for a “Day of Rage.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent and medics told Ma’an that over 290 Palestinians were injured, including 43 with live bullets and 44 with rubber-coated steel bullets.
Hundreds suffered tear gas inhalation.
At the northern entrance to Hebron, a rally organized by Hamas after Friday prayers was suppressed by Israeli forces, who fired tear gas canisters and stun grenades at demonstrators.
Palestinian youths threw rocks at Israeli soldiers and rolled burning tires at the forces, witnesses said.
Fifty-nine Palestinians were injured during the clashes, two seriously, the Red Crescent told Ma’an. Twelve of those injured were hit by live fire and five by rubber-coated steel bullets.
An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that a “violent riot broke out near a military post in Hebron where rioters threw Molotov cocktails and rolled burning tires.”
Israeli forces responded with “riot dispersal means and rubber-coated steel bullets,” she said, adding that the clashes had broken out early in the day and were ongoing.
In Hebron’s al-Arrub refugee camp, two Palestinians were hit with live bullets and 10 with rubber-coated steel bullets during clashes, and an elderly woman was evacuated from her home after tear gas was fired into her house.
In Qalqiliya, at least 13 were injured by tear gas, the Red Crescent said.
Witnesses reported that a 13-year-old boy was shot in the foot with a rubber-coated steel bullet in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem. Three others were injured by rubber-coated steel bullets as well as three by live fire.
The Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that a “violent riot” was taking place adjacent to Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem and that Israeli forces were using “riot dispersal means in order to disperse the scene.”
An Israeli border police officer was injured by a rock during clashes near the Beit El settlement by Ramallah, she added, with hundreds of demonstrators rolling burning tires at Israeli forces.
Near al-Bireh, 10 Palestinains were injured by live fire and 14 with rubber-coated steel bullets. Six suffered injuries after falling during the clashes, witnesses said.
Clashes also broke out by the Ramallah-area al-Jalazone refugee camp where five were injured with live bullets and four with rubber-coated steel bullets. Of those injured, Mohammad Dabour,13, was seriously injured after being shot with a live bullet in the stomach, and another teenager was hit in the head with a rubber-coated steel bullet and is in a moderate condition.
Three other Palestinians were injured in Nabi Saleh north of Ramallah, including an elderly woman, Manal al-Tamimi, who suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation.
In clashes at the northern entrance of Nilin village west of Ramallah, three Palestinians were injured with live bullets.
Locals reported that Israeli forces used Palestine TV reporter and cameraman Sira Sarhan and Hadi al-Dibs as human shields by forcing them at gunpoint to remain in front of Jeep and tell protesters to stop throwing rocks.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 65 were injured during clashes including eight by live fire and three with rubber-coated steel bullets.
Near-daily clashes have broken out across occupied Palestinian territory since the beginning of the month, where over twenty have been shot dead by live ammunition.
Those killed in clashes are among the over 50 who have been killed during the time period, several of whom have been shot dead after carrying out stabbing attacks. At least nine Israelis have been killed during the same time period.
Clashes initially began to escalate following the fatal shooting of two Israeli settlers on Oct. 1 by suspected Palestinian gunmen as well as increased restrictions on Palestinian entry to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The UN Secretary-General said Thursday said that while Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian Authority have pledged to curb violence, “this crisis would not have erupted….if the Palestinians did not still live under a stifling and humiliating occupation that has lasted almost half a century.”
(Ma’an)
