19 Palestinians were injured Thursday in clashes with the Israeli army in the village of Amateen, east of Qalqilia. The fighting erupted after the army began bulldozing villagers’ farmlands to construct a wall, planned to surround huge settlement blocs in the area.
Soldiers invaded the village early Thursday morning and began uprooting orchards, according to the wife of one of the injured men. When hundreds of village residents confronted the military bulldozers, soldiers fired rounds of live ammunition, rubber-coated bullets and gas bombs at them.
Dozens of residents suffered respiratory injuries after inhaling gas fired by the army, and several others were injured by live rounds and rubber-coated bullets, according to a medical source at the Emergency Hospital in Qalqilia.
The soldiers were clearing land for a wall, which will surround nearby settlements of Qadumim, Emanuel, Qarneh Shamron and Jenat Hasharon.
Among the villagers injured in the clashes were Amir Suwwan, 18, Lu’ay Birry, 20, Wajeeh Ghanim, 17, Fadi Sadeq Suwwan, 16, Ali Mahmoud Suwwan, 18, and Imad Sobhy Suwwan, 28.
