At least one young man suffered gunshot injury, while dozens suffered breathing problems as clashes broke out following Friday prayers in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.
The gunshot injury was reported when Israeli police forces violently stormed al-Ram town, north of occupied Jerusalem, amid heavy firing of rubber and live bullets, medical sources affirmed.
Teargas suffocation cases were also reported during the raid, the sources added.
Meanwhile, violent clashes broke out in the afternoon between Israeli forces and local youths in Beit Ummar town, north of al-Khalil.
An Israeli soldier was reportedly injured during the clashes.
Similar confrontations erupted in Takoa town in Bethlehem as Israeli forces broke into the town amid heavy firing of teargas bombs and rubber bullets.
In Gaza, Israeli forces injured a 50-year-old Palestinian man with live fire during protests in the central Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian officials.
The man was shot in his right foot during protests east of al-Bureij refugee camp along the “buffer zone,” according to Ashraf al-Qidrah, the spokesman for the ministry of health in Gaza.
Witnesses said that an Israeli sniper opened fire at Palestinian protesters during the clashes.
An Israeli army spokesperson said they were looking into reports.
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have demonstrated near the border with Israel nearly every Friday to show solidarity with what Palestinians in Gaza have termed the “Jerusalem Intifada” taking place in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The so-called “buffer zone,” where the weekly protests have taken place, was unilaterally declared a “no-go-zone” by Israel in 2005.
29 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip since the unrest spread in October, the majority shot dead during clashes near the buffer zone.
More than 177 Gazans have been injured by Israeli forces since the start of 2016, the vast majority during clashes that broke out with the Israeli military during protests since October, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Both Israeli huan rights group B’Tselem and Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) released reports earlier this month, following the death of a Palestinian teen during clashes along the Gaza-Israel border, detailing the culture of impunity reserved for Israeli forces who kill Palestinians, noting the unlikelihood that Israeli soldiers who wrongfully injure and kill Palestinians will be held accountable.
“Accountability for shootings by Israeli forces is extremely rare, and Israel routinely defends or denies using lethal force against children,” said DCIP, while B’Tselem affirmed that “if an investigation does take place, experience shows the chances of it leading to any substantive results are extremely low.”
