Israeli forces opened fire, on Friday, at the weekly non-violent demonstration in Kufur Qaddoum village east of Qalqilia, in the northern occupied West Bank, injuring dozens of Palestinian young men, local sources reported.
Coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Annexation Wall & Colonies in Kufur Qaddoum, Morad Eshteiwi, stated that Israeli troops, hid behind mounds of earth and opened fire with tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel rounds.
Four young men were shot with rubber-coated steel rounds and dozens more suffered the toxic effects of tear gas inhalation, all of whom were treated at the scene by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
Palestinian demonstrators burned tires to obstruct the soldiers’ view and used slingshots to throw tear gas canisters back towards the attacking army.
In 2003, occupation authorities closed the main road of Kufur Qaddoum town, and Palestinian citizens from surrounding villages have rallied every week since then, demanding the authorities reopen the road.
Israeli colonists from the nearby illegal Kedumin settlement, established on expropriated Palestinian lands, have full access to the street, while Palestinians are forced to take longer routes to Nablus city, the nearest major commercial center, prolonging travel time, causing undue hardship.
Video from Kufur Qaddoum
Photo: AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh
~ Wall & Colonization Resistance Commission, Kufur Qaddoum
Photo: AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh
