Israeli army disperses West Bank anti-settlement rally

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - The Israeli army on Friday dispersed several anti-settlement rallies staged by Palestinian youth in the occupied West Bank.

"Army troops used teargas and rubber bullets to disperse weekly anti-settlement protests," the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees (PRCs), which organize the weekly demonstrations, said in a statement.

According to the PRCs, young Palestinian demonstrators responded by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli troops.

"Dozens of protesters who suffered temporary asphyxia after inhaling excessive amounts of teargas were treated at the scene," the statement read.

It went on to note that, during the protests, the army had detained several journalists near the town of Kafr Qaddum west of the city of Nablus.

Palestinians typically hold weekly demonstrations to protest Israel’s illegal settlement activities and the separation wall that snakes through the occupied West Bank.

Israel began construction of the wall, which separates the Jewish state from the West Bank, in 2002 with the stated aim of preventing Palestinian attacks.