Israeli forces injured, on Sunday, dozens of Palestinians, and abducted three, during a search and arrest campaign in the southern occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, according to local sources.
On Sunday morning, three illegal Israeli settlers were injured when a vehicle drove by and opened fire at their vehicle, outside of Tekoa colony, near the Palestinian town of Tuqu’, southeast of Bethlehem.
A large army force closed all entrances and invaded the city of Bethlehem, in search of the accused perpetrator of this morning’s attack.
The military incursion sparked protests from local Palestinian youths, which soldiers responded to by heavily firing tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel rounds.
At least two young men were shot and injured with steel rounds, while dozens more suffered the toxic effects of tear gas inhalation.
In a statement, the occupation army claimed to have arrested the alleged perpetrator, stating that, “Under intelligence guidance from the Shin Bet (internal security of the occupation), the army arrested the suspect of carrying out the shooting near Bethlehem.”
Soldiers surrounded the Al-Rabat Mosque in the city which resulted in confrontations between Palestinian young men and the invading army.
According to the Hebrew Channel 14, occupation forces abducted three Palestinian young men while they were besieged inside the Mosque, one of whom is accused of them of carrying out the attack.
Video from J Media
For its part, the Hebrew Channel 12 claimed that they arrested Ammar al-Najjar, 26, and that he had announced on social media prior to the attack that he is aligned with the “Qassam Brigades”, the armed wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas”.
It was reported that dozens of dunams of land were set ablaze, presumably from tear gas canisters fired by the army.
