Several Palestinian and international activists were injured as Israeli forces dispersed peaceful marches in the occupied West Bank, on Saturday, according to activists and WAFA correspondence.Israeli forces attacked Palestinian and foreign activists who marched in protest of the ongoing closure of the road linking Surif with Al-Jaba‘ village, to the southwest of Bethlehem, beating them with the butts of their rifles and firing tear gas canisters and stun grenades at them.
Several Palestinians sustained bruises across their bodies while others suffocated as a result of inhaling tear gas.
Marching activists waived Palestinian flags and chanted slogans demanding the removal of the metal gate that has been separating Surif from Al-Jabʻa for the past fourteen years.
Israel closed off the road with metal gates, rocks and sand barriers to facilitate safe movement for settlers traveling in and out of Gush Etzion settlement bloc, to the north of Hebron, cutting off the two villages from one another.
Despite the deployment of Israeli forces in the area and declaring it a closed military zone, activists managed to plant dozens of olive saplings in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, particularly Malak Al-Khatib, age 14, the youngest female prisoner in Israeli jails, said Coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlement in Hebron, Rateb al-Jabour.
Al-Jabour pledged that activists would continue to protect vulnerable Palestinian lands against expanding settlement construction, through farming them and reinforcing farmers’ resilience.
Defiant activists attempted to remove the metal gate that obstruct movement between Surif and Al-Jabʻa and planted an olive sapling dedicated to captured Jordanian fighter pilot Mu‘az al-Kassasbeh, who was burned to death in a cage by the Western-backed ‘Islamic State’ proxy militia.
Also on Saturday, Israeli forces stormed the Ramallah town of Batonia, firing tear gas and sound canisters towards residents’ homes, according to witnesses.
Witnesses said that soldiers chased Palestinian youth, present near Ofer military camp, all the way to the center of the town, firing tear gas and sound canisters towards residents and their homes. No injuries were reported.
An increasing number of unarmed and peaceful Palestinians have either been killed or seriously injured as a result of Israel’s constant use of tear gas against Palestinians.
Additionally, Israeli forces, Saturday morning and Friday evening, kidnapped at least two Palestinians, including a child, from the illegally occupied districts of Hebron and Jenin, according to WAFA security sources.
Forces deployed in the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque detained nine-year-old Abdul-Rahman Burqan and led him to an unknown destination.
They also raided Idhna town, to the west of the city, set up roadblocks in various neighborhoods, as well as at the entrances of Sa‘ir and Halhul, where they stopped and examined vehicles with Palestinian registration plates and inspected passengers’ ID cards.
Meanwhile, in Jenin, forces stationed at a checkpoint near Huwwara town, to the south of Nablus, also detained a Palestinian young man after stopping the bus he was aboard for over an hour.
The detainee, who is a resident from Markah village, to the south of Jenin, remains unidentified.
Forces also raided two Palestinian homes in the Jenin village of Arqa, searching them and interrogating residents. No abductions were reported.
Forces further stormed Yabod and al-Taybeh, where they conducted a large-scale search campaign, setting up ambushes and patrolling their vehicles in streets and allies; no abductions reported.
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