DOZENS INJURED IN CLASHES NORTH OF JERUSALEM

An Israeli soldier takes position during a demonstration at Qalandiya
checkpoint. (Photo: Ma’an News Agency)

Ramallah, 20 Jumadil Awwal 1436/11 March 2015 (MINA) –  Clashes with Israeli forces left dozens of Palestinians injured in Kafr Aqab in northern Jerusalem on Tuesday, medics said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that nine demonstrators suffered injuries from live fire to their lower extremities, and one was left in critical condition.

Activists told Ma’an that dozens more sustained light-to-moderate injuries from rubber-coated steel bullets, and many suffered tear-gas inhalation, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The clashes broke out after Israeli bulldozers leveled land in the Qalandiya airport area, close to Kafr Aqab. Israel has declared the area a closed military zone.

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Sources told Ma’an that the land was being leveled to continue the building of the separation wall, which already effectively separates the districts of Samir Amis and Kafr Aqab from Jerusalem.

Witnesses said that the ongoing clashes broke out sporadically throughout the day.

On Monday, Israeli forces delivered demolition notices to buildings in the Qalandiya airport area near the wall.

Kafr Aqab was annexed by Israel along with the rest of East Jerusalem in 1980 and falls under its full jurisdiction. However, it has been cut off from the city since the construction of the wall.  (T/P010/P3)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)