ISRAELI FORCES ARREST 5 PALESTINIANS IN WEST BANK TOWN OF SILWAD
Ramallah, 21 Rajab 1436/10 May 2015 (MINA) – Israeli forces have clashed with Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank, arresting five of them.
The clashes erupted between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli forces who were trying to arrest Palestinian activists in the town of Silwad, located 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) northeast of Ramallah in the West Bank.
The clashes intensified after Israeli forces raided the homes of the Palestinian activists.
Israeli forces fired tear gas to disperse the protesters who were trying to stop the Israeli forces from detaining the activists, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).
Three activists and two protesters were arrested by the Israeli forces.
In recent months, Israeli forces have frequently raided the houses of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, arresting dozens of people, who are still being held without any charges leveled against them.
On Friday, dozens of Palestinians held a demonstration in the town of Silwad to express their resentment at illegal Israeli settlements. Violence erupted when Israeli soldiers stormed the gathering and fired tear gas canisters as well as live bullets at demonstrators to break up the protest.
Young Palestinian men hurled stones and empty bottles at the Israeli troopers in return.
Israel has been trying to change the demographic makeup of al-Quds (Jerusalem) over the past decades by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
Much of the international community regards the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were occupied by Israel in 1967, and they are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands. (T/P002/R04)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
