Palestinian medical sources in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, reported Monday that eighty residents and members of the Palestinian security forces were reported when a number of residents attacked the City Council building in Doura, near Hebron, a Palestinian Police Stations and an ambulance that belongs to the Red Crescent. Nasser Qabaja of the Red Crescent in Hebron said that nine ambulances transferred the wounded to a number of hospitals in Hebron, while dozens of residents received treatments by field medics. Most of the wounded suffocated after inhaling gas fired by Israeli soldiers against the protesters.
Qabaja added that “some trouble makers hurled stones at a Red Crescent ambulance shattering its windshield and wounded one volunteer medic”.
He said that the eighty wounded residents suffered different injuries that range between bruises, fractures and suffocation due to Gaza inhalation.
The clashes took place after several unknown persons hurled stones and empty bottles at the building of Hebron’s City Council, and at the Fire Department building, causing serious damages to a number of fire trucks and the windows of the City Council. They also hurled stones at a Palestinian Police station.
Furthermore, fifteen residents, members of the Youth Coalition Against High Prices, were injured after being attacked by the same persons who attacked the police and the city council buildings.
Earlier on Monday at dawn, several unknown persons torched tires and placed rocks closing the main junctions of Hebron, and also damaged several traffic signs. Several minor roads were also blockaded with rocks and burning tires, while several trash cans were set ablaze.
Issa Amro, an activist of the Youth Coalition, said that the coalition denounces all acts of violence, the attacks against private and public property, and the attempts that aim at transforming the peaceful protests against the sharp increase in living costs into acts of violence that serve the interests of suspicious persons who want to turn these legitimate nonviolent protests in acts of violence in order to distract the public and deviate these protests from their essence.
Amro added that “15 members of the coalition were injured while defending public and private property after being attacked by those suspicious persons”.
“Our protests are nonviolent, and aim at serving the interests of our people”, he said, “We call on all residents to be aware of all attempts that aim at sabotaging our real, legitimate movement”.
Clashes were also reported in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, while a number of security forces personnel fired rounds of live ammunition into the air in an attempt to disperse the protesters in the center of the city.
The Team Palestina Facebook group reported that 60 Palestinians were injured in Nablus during clashes with the police, and that Nablus mayor, Adli Ya’ish, was mildly injured while trying to intervene between the protesters and the police.
Youth activists protesting against the sharp increase of prices and corruption, the protests are nonviolent and peaceful, while several activists warned that some elements are trying to infiltrate their protests in an attempt to create tension and turn these protests in violent confrontations, and acts of destructing to private and public property.
