Israeli occupation forces (IOF) suppressed on Saturday evening the Kafr Qaddum march east of Qalqilya. Three Palestinians were wounded by rubber-coated metal bullets including a medic and others suffered breathing difficulties.
Local sources stated that IOF fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at the citizens who participated in a march. The weekly march denounces the settlement activity in the village and demands the opening of the village main street which has been closed for 17 years.
The village recently witnessed escalation in IOF raids which was represented by frequent night raids and ambushes in deserted houses with the aim of blocking the weekly march but the citizens insist on maintaining the weekly event until the achievement of its goals.
For the tenth year in a row the weekly anti-settlement marches continue to demand the opening of the main road of Kafr Qaddum town which the IOF closed for settlement expansion.
IOF closed the main entrance to the village to expand the Kedumim settlement which is built on the village’s lands and link it to scattered outposts sprawling over an area of 4000 dunums of the village’s land.
The importance of the closed entrance to the village lies in the fact that it is the passage that connects Kafr Qaddum and its surroundings to other Palestinian villages and towns.
Every Friday and Saturday marches are launched denouncing settlement activity in different areas of the West Bank. The participants perform Friday prayers on lands threatened with confiscation and clashes erupt during the IOF quelling of these marches.
