Six Palestinians were injured and two Israeli peace activists were detained as protests against the Israeli occupation broke out in at least four villages across the West Bank on Friday.
Dozens of Palestinians also suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation during the clashes, which took place in al-Ram, Kafr Qaddum, Bilin, and Beit Ummar.
Al-Ram
Four Palestinian youths were injured and dozens suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation in clashes with Israeli forces at the northern entrance of al-Ram village on Friday.
Palestinians threw stones and empty bottles while Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas and stun grenades at them.
An Israeli police spokeswoman did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Bilin
Two were injured after Israeli forces opened fire on dozens of protesters demonstrating against the Israeli separation wall and authorities’ confiscation of village lands in Bilin.
One protester who shot with a rubber bullet in the leg and the other was shot in the neck by a tear gas canister during the demonstration, organizers said.
During the protest, several activists climbed the wall and planted Palestinian flags atop it, and they also tried damage motion detector cables on the top of the wall.
Israeli forces chased protesters into the village and fired a large amount of tear gas against protesters, causing a number of cases of excessive inhalation.
Since 2005, Bilin villagers have protested on a weekly basis against the Israeli separation wall that runs through their village on land confiscated from local farmers.
Previous protests by Bilin activists have forced the Israeli authorities to re-route the wall, but large chunks of the village lands remain inaccessible to residents because of the route.
Israel began building the separation wall in 2002, and the route has been the target of regular demonstrations by border towns whose land is cut off by its path.
Kafr Qaddum
Israeli forces on Friday detained two Israeli peace activists following the weekly protest against the Israeli occupation in Kafr Qaddum.
Dozens were injured from excessive tear gas inhalation after clashes broke out with Israeli protesters following the protest.
An Israeli activist said that a photographer named Hagar and an activist named Gilad were detained at a flying checkpoint as they left the village in a car with an Israeli license.
Hundreds had participated in the protest which began after the Friday noon prayers.
Protests are held every Friday in Kafr Qaddum against Israel’s closure of a main road linking the village to its nearest city, Nablus. The road has been closed since 2000.
Beit Ummar
Clashes also broke out in Beit Ummar in the southern West Bank on Friday, after Israeli blocked the main road leading into the village.
Spokesman for the popular resistance committee in Beit Ummar Mohammad Ayyad Awad said that clashes broke out in the village and dozens suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation as result.
The injured were all treated on the scene by red crescent medics, Awad added.
The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.
(Ma’an – www.maannews.net)
