At least 58 Palestinians were injured on Saturday and many others suffocated from teargas by Israeli soldiers who locked down the main entrance to the village of Burqa, in the occupied West Bank districts of Nablus, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The shutdown of the village entrance came as the Israeli occupation army reinforced its presence in the Nablus-Jenin road, which is close to the village, to secure dozens of busloads packed with Jewish settlers. The settlers made a provocative tour of Homesh, an illegal Jewish settlement that was evacuated in 2005.
In the past few hours:
247 Palestinians injured by Israeli settler and military violence.
10 were by live ammunition.
Others vary between teargas inhalation and plastic coated steel bullets. A pregnant woman had to be evacuated FROM HER HOME, from suffocation.#Nablus— مريم البرغوثي (@MariamBarghouti) December 25, 2021
The Israeli soldiers clashed with scores of Palestinian protesters who were infuriated by the shutdown of the village entrance, and fired live bullets, rubber-coated rounds, stun grenades and teargas to disperse them, injuring at least 10 Palestinians with gunfire and another 48 protesters by rubber-coated rounds. Many cases of suffocation from teargas were reported.
The village of Burqa in the north of the occupied West Bank has been the main target of a fresh wave of violent attacks by Israeli settlers for over a week.
Homes were vandalized and defenseless residents terrified by aggressive settlers in the full watch of Israeli soldiers. pic.twitter.com/m88oRIByk9
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 25, 2021
Wafa Awwad, a photojournalist working with WAFA Agency, was injured by a rubber-coated round while covering the clashes.
Those wounded by live bullets were evacuated to a hospital in the nearby city of Nablus for medical treatment, and the condition of one of them was described as critical.
Palestinian protesters confront with the Israeli occupation forces at the entrance leading to the village of Burqa, defending their lands.#SaveBurqa pic.twitter.com/kfxJKvgx0Y
— Sarah Hassan (@Sarah_Hassan94) December 25, 2021
Similar clashes also erupted in the meantime at the entrance to the neighboring village of Bazariya as the settlers, protected by the Israeli military, were making their way past the village towards Homesh. No injuries were reported.
Over the last few days, Jewish settlers, protected by the Israeli army, attacked and attempted to raid homes of Palestinian citizens at the outskirts of the village of Burqa, which is close to the route leading to Homesh.
(WAFA, PC, Social Media)
