Dozens of Palestinian citizens including school students suffered from their exposure to tear gas on Wednesday morning during clashes with the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in Bethlehem City.
Local sources said that the clashes happened at the northern entrance of Bethlehem.
Meanwhile several universities in Bethlehem City closed their doors today in solidarity with the Palestinian residents of Shuafat refugee camp and Anata in the northeast of Occupied Jerusalem.
Shuafat Anata and other nearby areas have been under tight Israeli siege since last Saturday after resistance fighters opened fire at a group of soldiers killing one of them and injuring two others at the Shuafat checkpoint.
The Israeli closures prevented thousands of Palestinians in the affected east Jerusalem areas from accessing the rest of the city for work school and medical care and obtaining their vital needs.
Another Israeli soldier was shot dead on Tuesday near an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank in an operation claimed by a Palestinian resistance group the second such incident within days.
The Israeli occupation army said the soldier was killed when two Palestinians arrived in a vehicle near the settlement of Shavei Shomron in western Nablus and shot live fire.
These two soldiers were killed amid an escalation of Israeli violence in the West Bank with Israeli military and security forces killing several Palestinians since the beginning of the month.
Businesses and universities in different areas of al-Khalil and Tulkarem were also closed today in solidarity with the besieged Palestinians in Shuafat camp and Anata town.
Clashes also broke out between local youths and Israeli forces at the main entrance of al-Arroub refugee camp in northern al-Khalil. Several Palestinians suffered from their exposure to tear gas.
