20 villagers hurt near West Bank protest

Ma'an
Over 20 villagers, including 14 children, were hurt in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on Friday during a demonstration against Israel's wall and the illegal settlement of Hallamish, which cuts into the village.

The villagers, who did not take part in the demonstration, were hurt after the house they were taking refuge in was attacked by Israeli soldiers in a volley of tear-gas projectiles and rubber-coated bullets. One boy was hit in the stomach by a tear-gas projectile. He, along with four others, required medical care, and were evacuated to a hospital...

Clashes in the village began after soldiers blocked some 200 demonstrators – Palestinians, Israelis and internationals – from reaching a spring on privately owned Palestinian land, which was recently taken over by Hallamish settlers. "Despite being entirely peaceful, demonstrators were assaulted with tear-gas and rubber-coated bullets," peace advocates claimed in a statement.

Video footage from last week's violence in Nabi Saleh:



Approximately six weeks ago, a group of Halamish settlers took over the spring located in privately owned Palestinian land between the village and the settlement. Since then, and despite the fact that ownership of the land is undisputed, the army began preventing Palestinians from accessing the area, according to the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee.

While demonstrations in recent weeks were triggered by the barring of access to the spring, protesters say their overall motivation is to stop the constant advance of the settlement onto Palestinian land. Since 1977, half of the Nabi Saleh's farmland was lost to the settlement.  Full story