A Palestinian in the Gaza Strip was killed and 100 others were injured in Gaza and the West Bank on Friday in the occupied territories in clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported.
Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops erupted after Friday prayers when thousands of Palestinians participated in marches in what was dubbed the “Friday of Rage” in Gaza to denounce Israeli crimes in the occupied territories, WAFA said.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli occupation forces stormed several districts in Hebron in the occupied West Bank and detained five Palestinians.
An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that “violent riots broke out near a military post in Hebron where rioters threw Molotov cocktails and rolled burning tires.”
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza condemned Israeli attacks against emergency medical staff treating the injured.
Palestinian media outlets also reported that at least three journalists were also injured during the clashes.
The Islamist Hamas movement and other Palestinian factions had called for the “Friday of Rage”, urging Palestinians to join “new confrontations with the occupation forces” across the West Bank.
In a statement posted on their website on Thursday, Hamas called on Palestinians to “deliver a message to the [Israeli] occupiers that campaigns of arrests will not end the Jerusalem Intifada.”
The current wave of protests and clashes started in late July when 18-month-old toddler Ali Dawabsha was burned to death and three other Palestinians were severely injured after their house in the West Bank was set on fire by Israeli settlers.
The parents of the toddler, Riham and Saad, and their other son Ahmad later lost their lives after suffering serious injuries in the arson attack.
For weeks now, Palestinians have been protesting against attacks by Israelis on Al-Aqsa Mosque and the closing of the Muslim holy site to worshippers on several occasions.
Palestinians have been angered by Tel Aviv’s policies of evicting of Palestinian families from East Jerusalem, the hopeful capital of a future Palestinian state, and the building of Jewish settlements.
On Friday, Israel’s High Court issued injunctions to block nine demolition orders of the homes of Palestinians accused of killing Israelis in recent stabbings.
After the announcement of the ruling, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that demolitions were “one of the most efficient tools” in fighting the Palestinian attacks.
source:Ahram Online
