1300 PALESTINIAN SHOOT BY LIVE, RUBBER BULLETS IN OCTOBER

Bethlehem, 28 Dzulhijjah 1436/12 October 2015 (MINA) – Israeli forces have shot more than 1,300 Palestinians with live and rubber-coated bullets since the beginning of this month, the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health said Sunday.

At least 75 Palestinians were shot with live rounds on Sunday alone, the ministry said in a statement.

Of those, 53 Palestinians were shot with live fire at Huwarra checkpoint south of Nablus, and a further 20 shot with live rounds — including expanding “dum-dum” bullets — in clashes in Tulkarem, the statement said.

Another Palestinian was shot and injured in Ramallah, where a 13-year-old boy was also shot dead, the statement said, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The child was the 24th Palestinian to be killed this month.

The Palestinian Red Crescent earlier Sunday reported 77 more Palestinians who were shot and injured with rubber-coated steel bullets, as well as 208 who suffered excessive tear gas inhalation.

Fierce clashes have kept up unabated since the beginning of the month, prompted by Israeli army and settler reprisals after four Israelis were killed in two separate attacks at the beginning of October.

However, tensions had mounted for weeks, particularly over tight restrictions on Palestinians seeking to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound — the third holiest site in Islam — during a succession of Jewish holidays.

The Palestinian human rights group al-Haq warned on Saturday that the occupied Palestinian territories stood “on the brink.”

The group blamed “Israel’s wanton and excessive use of force against Palestinians, with no accountability for the deaths they cause” for the high death toll.

The group also condemned attacks by Israeli settlers, which it said have increased in “frequency and severity” in recent days. It pointed to cases of shootings, beatings, property damage, and burning crops.(T/P008/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)