ISRAELI OCCUPATION TROOPS SHOOT AND INJURE NON-VIOLENT FRIDAY PROTEST

Betlehem, 4 Safar 1435/7 December 2013 (MINA) – Non-violent protests were held in five West Bank villages Friday, as well as in the city of Bethlehem, where Israeli troops attacked protesters and wounded one young man in the leg with a live bullet.

On Friday protests were organized at the village of Kufer Qadom, in northern West Bank and the villages of Bil’in, Nil’in and Al Nabi saleh in central West Bank. Also an anti wall protest was organized in southern West Bank village of Al Ma’ssara.

Israeli soldiers attacked protesters in Al Nabi Saleh before the protesters had left the village , troops later invaded Al Nabi saleh and fired tear gas at residents homes. Many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.

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In the nearby villages of Bil’in, and Nil’in, residents and their Israeli and international supporters reached the Israeli wall built on lands taken from local famers before soldiers stationed there showered them with tear gas and chemical water that generate bad smell. At both protests, many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.

Elsewhere two civilians were injured at the village Kufer Qadum when Israeli troops attacked the weekly protest there.

Elsewhere, in al Ma’ssara village on Friday , Israeli troops stopped the villagers and their supporters at village entrance then forced them back using rifle butts and batons to push people back, no serious injuries were reported.

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Kafr Qaddum

Two people were injured and dozens others suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation as Israeli occupation forces dispersed a protest in Kafr Qaddum.

Spokesman of the popular resistance committee Murad Eshtewi said Israeli forces raided the village after the weekly demonstration started, firing tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber-coated steel bullets.

Nasser Barham, 43, and Bashar Eshtewi, 43, were struck by tear gas canisters in the arm and abdomen, he added.

Eshtewi said that today’s demonstration was in protest against the recurrent raids of al-Aqsa by Israeli extremists, and in response to the “repression” suffered by the people in the village at the hands of Israeli forces.

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Israeli forces erected a checkpoint at the entrance of the village in the morning, declared it a closed military zone, and prevented ambulances and journalists from entering the village until the demonstration ended.

Protests are held every Friday in Kafr Qaddum against Israel’s closure of a main road linking the village to its nearest city, Nablus.(T/P012/P04)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)