Massive amounts of tear gas fired at peaceful protesters in Bil'in, burning olive trees, Israeli occupation troops storm ambulance center in Beit Ummar

Israeli occupation troops storm ambulance center in Beit Ummar

Date: 21 / 06 / 2008  Time:  18:32
Hebron – Ma'an –

Israeli occupation forces raided the headquarters of an ambulance service on the Jerusalem-Hebron in the West Bank town of Beit Ummar on Friday night, witnesses said.

Nasser Abdul Hamid Al-Alami and Omar Odeh Al-Alami said that, in the same raid, Israeli occupation soldiers pulled them from their homes. Israeli occupation troops then stormed the ambulance center, breaking the main gate and several windows.

The head of the Red Crescent Society in Hebron, Abdul Halim Al-Ja'afri, condemned the attack. Al-Ja'afri said that equipment damaged in attack is now unusable.

Massive amounts of tear gas fired at peaceful protesters in Bil'in, burning olive trees

Date: 20 / 06 / 2008  Time:  21:28
Ramallah – Ma'an –

Israeli occupation forces fired tear gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets at protesters in the weekly demonstration against the separation wall in Bil'in village, northwest of Ramallah, on Friday, injuring two and starting a fire which burned about ten olive trees belonging to village residents.

Together with international and Israeli solidarity activists, Bil'in residents marched after noon prayers on Friday, carrying Palestinian flags and banners denouncing Israeli policies including construction of the separation wall, settlement construction, the closure in the West Bank and the siege on Gaza. Other banners condemned the Israeli use of violence and live bullets against unarmed civilians demonstrators, and participants also carried pictures of Ibrahim Burnat, who was hit in the leg by a live bullet fired by Israeli occupation forces one week ago and is still hospitalized.

Demonstrators set out from the center of the village chanting slogans and headed to the wall, attempting to pass through the gate to their lands. Israeli occupation soldiers were hiding behind cement blocks waiting for them, and opened fire on the protesters with tear gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets.

Israeli occupation forces used a new kind of weapon capable of firing 30 tear gas bombs at once, and dozens of demonstrators suffered from gas inhalation. Muhib Al-Barghouthi, a photographer with the Al-Hayat Al-Jadida newspaper, and Rani Burnat were particularly injured by the tear gas. Tear gas bombs fired by the Israeli soldiers also set a grove of olive trees on fire, burning about ten trees.

Israeli occupation soldiers also used another weapon known as "the scream," which they had used three years ago in Bil'in. This weapon makes a terrible sound that affects the middle ear, causing people who hear it to lose balance and fall to the ground.

Bil'in residents have held non-violent protests against the Israeli separation wall each week for over three years. In 2007, the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled in favor of the villagers and ordered the Israeli army to dismantle a segment of the wall so that villagers would regain access to some of their lands. The Israeli occupation army has yet to re-route the wall in the village, refusing to comply with the Court's order for "security reasons."

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