Palestinians Mark Land Day with Protest Marches; Israelis Respond with Force

Land Day protest : Palestinians march to oppose theft and plunder of homes and land.

Bethlehem/Nablus, 03 Rajab 1438/31 March 2017 (MINA) – Palestinians marked Land Day on Thursday with protest marches in some West Bank cities, but Israeli forces dispersed the marches with force, WAFA reported, citing officials.

In Bethlehem in the south of the West Bank, protesters marched from Beit Jala to the Cremisan valley where Israel has seized hundreds of dunums of Palestinian land near the monastery to build its segregation wall.

When the march reached the Israeli army checkpoint at the Cremisan, soldiers fired tear gas canisters and stun grenades at them causing many to suffer from gas inhalation.

Some of the protesters were able to climb the four-meter high fence in the area and placed Palestinian flags on it.

In the north of the West Bank, soldiers attacked Palestinians who were attempting to plant seedlings in the Nablus area village of Madama on land near the illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar.

The soldiers fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas at the Palestinians injuring 45 people from rubber bullets and 17 treated for suffocation, according to Red Crescent medics. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)