IOF Murders Palestinian Man, Injures Dozens in WB Clashes

By Staff, Agencies

“Israeli” Occupation Forces [IOF] continue to crack down on anti-settlement protests in the occupied West Bank, killing a Palestinian young man and injuring tens of others.

The Palestinian health ministry said that Imad Ali Dweikat, 37, was shot in the chest by “Israeli” forces in the flashpoint town of Beita, south of Nablus, on Friday, and succumbed to his injuries after he reached a Nablus hospital "in a critical state."

Dweikat was laid to rest in Beita after a funeral which saw many activists participating.

The Palestine Red Crescent ambulance service said that 21 other Palestinians had been shot by “Israeli” forces, most of them with rubber bullets, while tens of others suffered breathing difficulties due to inhaling tear gas fired by the Israeli troops during the clashes on Friday.

Since May, Beita has seen intensified clashes between “Israeli” forces and Palestinians protesting against a settlement outpost that has been recently established on Sobeih Mountain by settlers under the protection of “Israeli” forces.

More than 600,000 “Israelis” live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 “Israeli” occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds [Jerusalem].

All “Israeli” settlements are illegal under international law as they are built on occupied land. The United Nations Security Council has condemned the entity’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.

Also on Friday, scores of Palestinians suffered breathing difficulties after IOF attacked a weekly anti-settlement rally in the West Bank village of Kafr Qaddum, using tear gas and rubber bullets.

The “Israeli” entity occupied East al-Quds, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip during the Six Day War in 1967. It later had to withdraw from Gaza but has been occupying the other territories since.