Two civilians, one Palestinian and one international, were injured by Israeli fire when troops attacked the weekly anti-wall protest at the village of Bil’in, central West Bank.As has been the case every Friday for the past five years, villages joined by international and Israeli supporters marched from the village after the midday prayers.
The march was also joined by an EU delegation for monitoring Israeli army violations against protesters, lead by Mr. Thierry Vallat.
People headed towards the villager’s land, where Israeli have built the wall. As soon as protesters reached the gate of the wall separating them from their land, troops fired tear gas and rubber-coated-steel bullets at them.
Two men, Ashraf al-Khatib and a European supporter, were hit with tear gas canisters.
Later, Israeli soldiers chased the demonstrators back to the village, were clashes between local youth and troops erupted. The clashes ended with no injuries reported.
The head of the Israeli District Co-ordination Office informed the village council of the new route of the Israeli wall last week.
The Popular Committee of Bil’in condemns the Israeli army detention of activists and leaders of Popular Committees in the West Bank. Last Wednesday, Feb 3rd 2010, Ibrahim Burnat (27 years old) was taken by Israeli troops from his house in Bil’in.
This week The Israeli authorities issued a conditional release of a member of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlement building, Mohammed al-Khatib, on bail of 10,000 Israeli Shekels, with the condition of not participating in any of the protests. He must appear at the nearest Israeli police station every Friday between 12:00- 5:00pm .
