More than 20 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli forces in central Hebron on Thursday afternoon, after a skirmish between Israeli troops and Palestinian police.

Locals said Israeli soldiers had tried to detain an on-duty Palestinian police officer in Bab al-Zawiye in the center of the city.

The police officer resisted and several fellow police officers rushed to his aid, they said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said there was a “clash” between police and the army but did not have further details.

Witnesses told Ma’an that after the incident, Israeli forces deployed extra units and were firing indiscriminately. Local youth threw stones at the troops, and soldiers set off tear gas and fire rubber bullets at the crowd.

Nasser Qabaja, Red Crescent emergency director in the southern West Bank, said three ambulances transferred the wounded to Hebron governmental hospital.

Medics said one man was hit in the head with live fire, and another eight were injured by rubber bullets. Seventeen others were treated for tear gas asphyxiation, they said.

The army spokeswoman said around 250 Palestinians had hurled rocks at the soldiers, and they were responding with riot dispersal means.

(Ma’an)