Two Palestinian journalists injured in West Bank protests
Two Palestinian photojournalists have sustained injuries during clashes between two separate groups of young Palestinian men and Israeli military forces in the northern and central parts of the occupied West Bank.
On Friday, dozens of Palestinians held a weekly demonstration in the town of Kafr Qaddum, located about 13 kilometers (eight miles) west of Nablus, against the Tel Aviv’s expropriation of Palestinian lands and the closure of a road in the town’s south.
Murad Shteiwi, the coordinator for the Popular Resistance in Kafr Qaddum, said violence broke out when Israeli soldiers assaulted the demonstrators and fired tear gas canisters to disperse the protesting crowd.
Nidal Shtayyah, a photojournalist for China’s official news agency Xinhua, was hit by a tear gas canister at the back of his head, and had to be transferred to the hospital in Nablus to receive medical treatment.
Shtewei added that a number of local residents, including a family of five, suffered tear gas inhalation during the mayhem.
Palestinian medical sources also said that three young men, including press photographer Fadi Jayyousi, were struck by rubber-coated steel bullets during clashes near the Jalazone refugee camp, located seven kilometers (4.3 miles) north of Ramallah. Jayyousi reportedly sustained wounds to his abdomen.
The occupied territories have witnessed new tensions ever since Israeli forces introduced restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem al-Quds in August 2015.
At least 236 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces in the tensions since the beginning of last October. The violence has also killed at least 32 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.
