Dozens of Palestinians wounded in Israeli soldier, settler attacks in West Bank

Israeli troops injured dozens of Palestinians to suppress demonstrations against illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank on Friday.

Soldiers fired tear gas at protesters in the Nablus province village of Beit Dajan, where the Palestinian Red Crescent Society treated 11 people for breathing issues, according to the organisation's Nablus ambulance and emergencies director, Ahmed Jibril.

An 11-year-old child was among three wounded when Israeli forces shot rubber-coated metal bullets in the Jabal Sabih area near the town of Beita, also in Nablus province, Jibril told The New Arab's sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Another nine people were treated for tear gas-related injuries at Jabal Sabih, an area long menaced by settlement activity and where the Evyatar outpost is protected at all times by Israeli troops after settlers were moved out in July.

Israeli authorities have been considering whether to "legalise" the settlement under Israeli law and allow some settlers to go back there, though the outpost would remain in breach of international law. Meanwhile, Palestinians have been stopped from farming their land near the settlement.

Israeli settlers on Friday stormed Qaryut, a Nablus province village, under Israeli soldier protection. They raided the village's spring area and destroyed property, local sources said. Soldiers injured seven Palestinians with rubber bullets and 43 with tear gas, according to the Red Crescent.

In Masafer Yatta - an area near Hebron city from which more than 1,000 Palestinian residents could face expulsion after an Israeli Supreme Court decision this week - settlers attacked a shepherd and broke his sheep's legs, a local activist told media.

Over 140 people have been hurt after Israeli troops attacked #Palestinians protesting against the building of a settlement outpost near the West Bank village of Beitahttps://t.co/w0LEpbouC5

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) July 24, 2021

In the village of Kafr Qaddoum in Qalqilya, at least six Palestinians were injured when Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets during a weekly anti-settlement rally, official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Demonstrations against settlements and other Israeli violations have been held weekly after Muslim Friday prayers in Beita and Kafr Qaddoum for years now.

Protesters this week stood against continued Israeli violations in occupied Jerusalem and against Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, which has faced repeated Israeli security and settler raids in recent weeks.

Dozens more Palestinians suffered from the effects of tear gas inhalation by Israeli forces elsewhere in the West Bank this weekend, activists said.