Clashes broke out in Abu Dis on Monday after Israeli forces raided the town to repair a hole made by local activists in the separation wall, local officials said.

Hani Halabiya, a spokesman of local popular committees in East Jerusalem, told Ma’an that Israeli soldiers raided Abu Dis to repair a hole in the separation wall near Al-Quds University.

The presence of the soldiers led to clashes with locals and university students, who threw stones and empty bottles at the soldiers.

Israeli soldiers then blockaded the main entrance to the university and fired tear gas canisters and stun grenades onto the campus.

A paramedic at the scene told Ma’an that dozens of local residents, school children and students were injured as a result of excessive tear gas in the area.

Two people were evacuated to a local clinic after being shot with rubber-coated steel bullets.

Students from Abu Dis High School and the Arab Institute High school were evacuated to safety by ambulance crews after Israeli soldiers fired tear gas in the area.

Earlier this year, the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education strongly condemned an Israeli raid on Al-Quds University campus in January in which dozens of students suffered tear gas inhalation and university property was damaged.

The raid was part of a “continuous and systematic context of violations against the Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, including the educational institutions and their cadres,” the ministry said at the time.

The Abu Dis campus of Al-Quds university was the site of frequent raids in 2013, often leading to closures and delays in lectures.

Dozens of students were injured in the raids and university property was damaged.

(Ma’an – www.maannews.net)