Violent clashes broke out at dawn Tuesday between Palestinian young men and the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) near Beita town south of Nablus in the West Bank.
According to local sources the IOF attacked dozens of local young men after they flocked on Monday evening to Mount Orma and camped there to guard it against intents by Jewish settlers to take it over.
Dozens of participants in the sit-in on the mount reportedly suffered from their exposure to tear gas and received on-site medical assistance from Red Crescent paramedics who already deployed emergency tents in the area.
Despite the cold weather on the mountainous site — which is about 800 meters above sea level — the young men mostly from towns and villages in southern Nablus have pitched their tents around a pole carrying a Palestinian flag to confirm their adherence to their land and their keenness on defending this strategically important site against Judaization attempts.
The local residents of Beita town in particular have been facing for years an Israeli plan to annex Mount Orma an ancient historic site to the illegal settlement of Itamar and frustrated frequent attempts by settlers to take it over and claim it as a Jewish site.
