Israeli forces injured, on Saturday, dozens of Palestinians at the weekly anti-settlement demonstration in the village of Kufur Qaddoum, east of Qalqilia in the northern occupied West Bank, according to eyewitnesses.
Witnesses told Quds Press that the procession began at the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Mosque, and walked towards the entrance to the town which was closed by the occupation authorities in 2003, which triggered a violent response from the occupation forces.
They added that soldiers opened fire at the non-violent demonstrators with tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel rounds, striking two young men with steel rounds and causing dozens to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation.
Furthermore, on Friday, Israeli troops shot and injured four Palestinians including a journalist covering the event, while dozens suffered inhalation injuries from the toxic tear gas used as a crowd control tactic.
In 2003, the Israeli occupation authorities closed the main road of the town to local Palestinians and granted full access to the colonial settlers, especially those living in the illegal Kedumim colony, built on expropriated Palestinian lands.
Local Palestinians have gathered every Friday and Saturday for several years in rejection of the closed road, and demand its re-opening, triggering a violent response from the occupation army.
Photo: Kufur Qaddoum
