5 Hurt by Israeli troops in West Bank protest, Palestinian media say
Nablus, May 5 (EFE).- Five Palestinians were injured by Israeli security forces Friday during a protest against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Soldiers launched tear gas and fired rubber bullets at residents of Kafr Qaddum, according to Wafa, the official news service of the Palestinian Authority.
The village lies in the northern West Bank, 13 km (8 mi) west of Nablus and 17 km east of Qalqilia.
Several of those hurt in the demonstration were taken to hospitals, Wafa said, adding that residents of Kafr Qaddum and neighboring villages have been protesting every Friday for years against illegal settlements and the closure of the community’s main road, sealed off by Israeli occupation authorities since 2002.
Three Palestinians were killed Thursday in Nablus in an Israeli raid targeting people held responsible by Israel for an April 7 attack in the Jordan Valley that left three Anglo-Israelis dead.
“Using precise intelligence from the Shin Bet (internal security service), we were able to neutralize the terrorists who committed the horrific attack,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) wrote on Twitter. “During the operation, a senior operative who aided the 2 terrorists was neutralized.”
Following the operation, Palestinian factions in Nablus called a general strike.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has escalated in the past year to levels of violence not seen since the Second Intifada (2000-2005), with an increase in both Palestinian attacks against Israelis, aggression by Jewish settlers against Palestinians and raids by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
The wave of violence has so far this year left at least 106 Palestinians dead, both combatants and civilians, including 20 children.
On the Israeli side, 19 civilians have died, three of them children.
EFE /dr
