84 PALESTINIANS INJURED BY RUBBER BULLETS IN WEST BANK CLASHES

An Israeli soldier aims his weapon at Palestinian protesters during clashes on a street leading to Duma village, on Aug. 1, 2015. (AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh/File)

Ramallah, 23 Dhulhijjah 1436/7 October 2015 (MINA) – Over 271 Palestinians were injured across the occupied West Bank on Wednesday as fierce clashes continued for the sixth consecutive day, including 84 by rubber-coated steel bullets, Red Crescent officials said.

A spokesperson for the medical association told Ma’an News that 28 Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets in Ramallah clashes, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

A large march had set-off from Birzeit University towards the Beit El settlement, with Israeli forces firing rubber-coated bullets, tear gas, and live fire at the youths.

One student was reported as critically injured after being hit by a rubber-coated bullet in the head.

An Israeli army spokesperson said that a “violent riot” broke out near the checkpoint of the Israeli settlement of Beit El, near Ramallah.

Around 350 Palestinians were present at the riot and were throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks at Israeli forces. The forces “heard gunshots fired at them” and “responded at the instigators with live fire.”

In Jericho, 55 Palestinians were hit with rubber-coated bullets during clashes, while two were shot with live fire.

Four Palestinians were shot with live fire in Nablus and two in Bethlehem, while over 155 Palestinians suffered injuries from tear gas inhalation across the West Bank, according to the Red Crescent.

Injuries mount in West Bank clashes

Clashes also broke out in the town of Beit Ummar in the southern West Bank district of Hebron on Wednesday, with Imad Mahmoud Hasan al-Sleibi, 17, detained by Israeli forces and taken to the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Karmi Tzur.

A local official said Israeli soldiers chased several other youths in an attempt to detain them during clashes in the al-Thahr area of Beit Ummar, near the settlement, taking over the rooftops of three homes in the area and firing tear-gas and stun grenades from the roofs, causing several locals to suffer from tear-gas inhalation.

Clashes erupted south of Hebron, in Yatta city, between Israeli forces and Palestinian youths after a Palestinian man killed in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel, was identified as a young man from the area.

Ayman Hatem al-Jundi, 20 and from Yatta, was shot dead earlier Wednesday after allegedly stabbing and seizing the gun of an Israeli soldier.

Hours earlier, an Israeli civilian shot and injured a Palestinian woman in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem after she allegedly tried to stab him.

Israeli authorities have orchestrated mass detention raids in Palestinian towns throughout the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem following fatal attacks on four Israelis over the past week.

Tensions had been mounting steadily for weeks across the occupied Palestinian territory due to Israeli restrictions on Palestinians seeking to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem.

The reported Palestinian injuries Wednesday bring the total injured since Saturday to over 800. (T/P010/R07)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)