47 Residents Wounded In Hebron

Saturday March 20, 2010 10:33 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian medical sources in the southern West Bank city of Hebron reported Friday evening that 47 residents were wounded during clashes with Israeli occupation soldiers in the city and the nearby Beit Ummar town.

21 residents received treatment after inhaling Gaza fired at them in Hebron, and nine others were wounded by rubber-coated bullets. The clashes took place near the Ibrahim Mosque.

Similar clashes took place in Al-Zahed area in the city while the army fired gas bombs and rubber-coated bullets.

Sources at the Red Crescent in the Hebron reported that some of the wounded residents were moved to the local governmental hospital, and the Muhammad Al-Muhtassib Hospital, while the rest received treatment by field medics.

The sources added that the Israeli occupation army fired a gas bombs at one of the ambulances while transporting some wounded residents. The gas bombs hit the windshield of the ambulance and shattered it.

Soldiers also occupied rooftops of several homes and used them as military posts and monitoring towers.

Twenty residents received treatment after inhaling gas fired by the army while six others were wounded by rubber-coated bullets in Beit Ummar town.

Several youths hurled stones at settler vehicles causing damage to three cars; the army invaded the town and prevented local ambulances from reaching the wounded residents.

Israeli military forces attack protests in Hebron with tear gas, concussion grenades

Saturday March 20, 2010 08:49 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

In the latest in a series of protests across the West Bank, Palestinian youth in the southern West Bank city of Hebron threw stones at Israeli soldiers Friday, while the soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas and concussion grenades at the youth from inside their armored vehicles.

The protests in Hebron coincide with non-violent demonstrations on Friday challenging the Israeli government's approval of a plan to construct 1,600 new Jewish-only housing units on illegally-seized Palestinian land in East Jerusalem.

One Al Jazeera reporter in Hebron reported that "The amount of tear gas used in the city is just quite unbelievable”, adding that several Palestinian youth had been injured.

The clashes in Hebron come in the midst of increased Israeli settler violence in recent months, including the shooting and beating of Palestinian civilians in the Old City of Hebron and nearby neighborhoods.

The city of Hebron is well-known throughout the West Bank for being home to the most violent and extreme Israeli settlers, many of whom openly celebrate and admire Baruch Goldstein, who was responsible for gunning down 27 Palestinian civilians who were praying in a mosque in 1994.

500 Israeli settlers live in illegally-seized Palestinian land in Hebron, and the Israeli government has deployed several thousand troops to the city to protect the settlers as they attack the indigenous Palestinian population with impunity.

Unrest in Hebron, Beit Ummar sees dozens injured

Published yesterday (updated) 19/03/2010 21:48

Hebron - Ma'an –

Following Friday prayers on Hebron's Tareq bin Ziad Street, clashes erupted between tens of worshipers and Israeli occupation soldiers guarding the Ibrahimi Mosque, witnesses said.

Fifteen were injured, Red Crescent medics confirmed, with eight treated for tear-gas inhalation in the field, and six hospitalized including one man who was struck with a rubber-coated bullet during the clash, officials at the Al-Muhtasseb Hospital in Hebron said.

Onlookers said soldiers fired on a Red Crescent ambulance as it evacuated some of the injured, shattering its windshield. The military spokesman said he was unfamiliar with the incident, and noted troops used no live or rubber-coated bullets during the clash.

Witnesses described Israeli occupation soldiers mounting the roof of a Palestinian home near the mosque, declaring it a military post for the duration of the unrest. Neighbors identified the home as belonging to Ali Abu Sneina.

Beit Ummar

Twelve kilometers north of Hebron in Beit Ummar, Palestinian Solidarity spokesman Mohammad Awwad said 20 residents suffered tear-gas inhalation, and another six were hit with rubber-coated bullets as protests erupted in the town.

Awwad said the rally was spontaneous, and occurred as residents exited the central mosque. "A large number of Israeli soldiers were deployed [near the town]," Awwad said, saying "young men hurled stones at the soldiers who fired tear-gas canisters."

Young men also reportedly threw stones at passing settler cars after Israeli occupation forces entered the town, and clashes erupted in the A’seeda neighborhood. Awwad noted live fire was directed toward the home of Kahled Auda Za’aqeeq during the violence.

Following the clashes, a Palestinian ambulance was denied entry into Beit Ummar by soldiers guarding the area, and were forced to treat the injured in the field, Awwad added.