Israeli forces dispersed a Palestinian protest Friday in the Abu Njeim community, located southeast of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank against the establishment of an illegal settlement outpost, injuring and arresting several Palestinians, Anadolu reports.
Israeli occupiers had set up a tent on residents’ land in the community, an Anadolu cameraman said, in what residents viewed as an attempt to establish a new illegal settlement outpost.
Dozens of Palestinians then staged a protest before Israeli army forces intervened to disperse them.
Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition and stun grenades, injuring many Palestinians, although an exact toll was not immediately available.
Israeli forces also arrested a Palestinian during the protest.
Eastern Bethlehem has witnessed an increase in attempts to establish new illegal settlement outposts, coinciding with a rise in occupier attacks on Bedouin communities and rural areas across the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian sources.
The Israeli left-wing group Peace Now estimates there are approximately 500,000 occupiers in the West Bank, in addition to around 250,000 in illegal settlements built in occupied East Jerusalem.
Since Oct. 8, 2023, the West Bank has been subject to an escalation of violence by the Israeli army and occupiers, killing 1,175 Palestinians, injuring 12,919, arresting around 24,000 and displacing 33,000, according to official Palestinian figures.
