Saturday, Israeli forces kidnapped four Palestinians from the West Bank governorates of Jenin and Tulkarem, in addition to 14 others from the Jerusalem area, according to reports by media and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club (PPC). Israeli forces in Beit Ummar forced 3 Palestinian youth, under gunpoint, to act as human shields.The PPC said, in a statement, that forces arrested two ex-detainees prisoners from the Jenin area, in addition to two others from Tulkarem, according to WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency.
Additionally, Israeli police kidnapped 14 Palestinians from the Jerusalem area, late Friday. They are reportedly all to remain in custody until court hearings are held.
In related West Bank news, WAFA correspondence further reports that several Palestinians were shot and injured Saturday with rubber-coated steel bullets. One was, in fact, said to have been shot in the thigh with live ammunition, while dozens others were teargassed during confrontations which erupted with Israeli forces across Hebron districts.
Confrontations erupted in the Bab Al-zawya area, Ras Al-Jura, and at the Halhoul Bridge, north of Hebron, where forces fired live rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets, in addition to tear gas canisters, at Palestinians.
Clashes also erupted in Al-Arroub refugee camp, according to Mohammad al-Badawi, who is a volunteer with the Palestinian Red Cross (PRC); forces fired live and rubber-coated bullets, in addition to tear gas bombs, shooting and injuring three with rubber-coated steel bullets, while two others were directly hit with tear gas canisters in the shoulder and in the lower jaw.
Dozens of Palestinians who suffered from tear gas inhalation were treated on location.
In Asida, to the East of Beit Ummar, similar confrontation occurred with no injuries being reported.
In the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, Israeli forces converted several Palestinian rooftops into military outposts.
During the operation, soldiers forced three brothers ages 12, 14, and 19, under gunpoint, to stand as human shields against provoked rocket-throwing Palestinians.
Safa, to the north, was also stormed by Israeli soldiers who fired live ammunition and tear gas at Palestinian residents, causing dozens of cases of suffocation.
More than 500,000 Israeli settlers now live in established neighborhoods and outposts across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in direct violation of international law, to which Israel is signatory. The area has been heavily patrolled by Israeli military and police since the 1967 occupation of the region, the legitimacy of which remains unrecognized by the international community.
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