‘Israeli’ Forces Attack Palestinian Protests Against Settlement Policy

By Staff, Agencies

Palestinian protesters took to the streets of the occupied West Bank on Friday to condemn the Zionist occupation’s settlement policy, and have been met with force by the ‘Israeli’ military.

‘Israeli’ occupation forces used live ammunition against Palestinian protesters in the town of Beita, south of Nablus, injuring at least two people.

The Palestine Red Crescent ambulance service said 42 Palestinians, including a journalist, were also hit with rubber bullets used by the Zionist occupation forces during the confrontations on Sobeih Mountain in Beita, adding that 87 others suffered breathing difficulties due to inhaling the tear gas fired by the ‘Israeli’ occupation troopers.

Since May, Beita has seen intensified confrontations between Zionist occupation regime forces and Palestinians protesting against a settlement outpost that has been established on Sobeih Mountain by settlers under the protection of ‘Israeli’ forces.

Also eastern Nablus, ‘Israeli’ occupation forces attacked Palestinians taking part in an anti-settlement protest in the village of Beit Dajan on Friday, using tear gas and rubber bullets.

‘Israeli’ occupation troops additionally attacked a weekly anti-settlement protest in the village of Kafr Qaddum in Qalqilya Province on Friday, using rubber bullets and tear gas.

Murad Shteiwi, a media spokesman in the Qalqilya region, said that as part of the fierce confrontations, three Palestinians were hit with rubber bullets, while dozens of people suffered breathing difficulties due to the tear gas used during the confrontations.

In a related context, in the early hours of Friday, the ‘Israeli’ forces stormed the village and arrested two young men, identified as Qusay Adnan and Musa al-Qaddumi.

The Tel Aviv regime occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967. It later had to withdraw from Gaza.

More than 600,000 Zionist settlers occupy more than 230 settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank.

All the settlements are illegal under international law. The United Nations Security Council has condemned the settlement activities in several resolutions.