4 Palestinians injured by Israeli army fire in West Bank

By Qais Abu Samra

NABLUS, Palestine (AA) - Four Palestinians were injured by Israeli army gunfire during clashes in the occupied West Bank on Friday, according to a local official.

Israeli forces used rubber-coated bullets and tear gas canisters to disperse a Palestinian protest against settlement building in the town of Kafr Qaddum in the northern West Bank, said Murad Ishtiwi, coordinator of the local Popular Resistance Committees in the town.

The four injured protesters were treated on field, he added.

Ishtiwi said dozens of demonstrators were also affected by tear gas fired by Israeli forces.

Similar clashes were reported in the towns of Beita and Beit Dajan in the Nablus province.

Medics told Anadolu Agency that they provided treatment on the spot to dozens of people who suffered temporary asphyxiation from the Israeli tear gas.

Several towns in the West Bank witness weekly protests against settlement building and settler attacks on the contact lines with the Israeli army, which disperses them and pursues demonstrators inside their towns.

Around 666,000 settlers live in 145 settlements and 140 random outposts (not licensed by the Israeli government) in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to Israeli Peace Now NGO.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat