AL-KHALIL (PIC)– Fierce clashes took place on Friday morning between residents of the village of Beit Ummar to the north of al-Khalil and groups of Jewish settlers supported by IOF soldiers resulting in the injury of a number of Palestinians.
The clashes took place after a provocative tour by the Jewish settlers of the Mantara neighbourhood to the north of the village during which they tried to attack a number of Palestinian homes in the northern part of the village near the “Gush Atsion” settlement.
Local sources in the village said that dozens of settlers from the settlements of Etsion and Bei Ein raided the northern part of the village protected by IOF troops and provoked the villagers prompting them to throw stones and empty bottles at the invaders to which the IOF responded by firing rubber-coated bullets live bullets and teargas canisters resulting in many cases of breathing difficulty the injured were taken to hospital.
Spokesman for the popular committee against the wall in Beit Ummar Muhammad Awad said that dozens of settlers provoked the local population when they toured the northern part of the village. He added that settlers came close to homes in the Manthara neighbourhood near the Etsion settlement resulting in clashes between the local residents on the one hand and the settlers and IOF troops on the other.
Awad also said that settlers who were armed carried maps of the area and cameras which automatically prompts Palestinians to worry about planned expansions of settlements which threatens what is left of their land and threatens more home demolitions.
