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3 wounded in West Bank anti-settlement protests

29 July 2011 19:12 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Two Palestinians and a foreign activist were injured on Friday when Israeli soldiers dispelled by force demonstrators joining the weekly anti-Jewish settlement protests in the West Bank.

Witnesses and medical sources said two Palestinian girls and one member of the international solidarity movement were injured when Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters.

Dozens of Palestinian protesters, backed by foreign activists had on Friday arranged the weekly demonstration against the Israeli construction of the separation wall on the West Bank territories and the expansion of settlements.

The Palestinian Popular Committee to Resist the Wall and Settlement in the West Bank said in a statement that Israeli soldiers beat up the media and medical crews and fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at the people.

The protests were arranged in the village of Bel’ein near Ramallah, Nabi Saleh and al-Ma’sarah near Bethlehem. In the protests in al-Ma’sarah, spokesman of the committee was beaten by the Israeli soldiers.

During the protests, the demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans that condemned the construction of the wall and the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Beside the Palestinian protesters, dozens of foreign and Israeli peace activists joined the protests. The witnesses said that dozens of foreign activists from Britain, Ireland and Scotland were hurt after they inhaled the tear gas.

Israeli radio reported that an Israeli soldier was lightly hurt after he was stoned during the protests near Ramallah. The weekly protests are backed by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and President Mahmoud Abbas.