Israel forces, Palestinians clash in occupied West Bank

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Clashes erupted on Friday between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces in different parts of the occupied West Bank.

The clashes, which occurred in the town of Al-Mughayyir east of Ramallah and Kafr Qaddum west of Nablus, saw Israeli forces use teargas, rubber bullets and live ammunition to disperse demonstrators.

Palestinians, for their part, responded by throwing stones and setting car tires alight.

Dozens of demonstrators suffered the effects of excessive teargas after taking part in the protests, which began shortly after Friday prayers.

According to Palestinian figures, roughly 640,000 Jewish settlers currently live on 196 settlements (built with the Israeli government’s approval) and more than 200 settler outposts (built without its approval) throughout the occupied West Bank.

International law regards the West Bank -- including East Jerusalem -- as "occupied territory" and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there to be illegal.

Israel-Palestine peace talks collapsed in 2014 due to Tel Aviv’s continued refusal to halt West Bank settlement building and accept pre-1967 borders as a basis for a two-state solution to the conflict.