Ramallah, Aug 8 (IANS) Dozens of Palestinian demonstrators were injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers near the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Qalqilya, medical sources said.
In a statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that Israeli soldiers on Friday shot and wounded eight Palestinian demonstrators — seven by rubber-coated metal bullets and one by a tear gas canister north of Ramallah, reports Xinhua news agency.
The statement said that medical crews sent the eight wounded by ambulances to the government hospital in Ramallah for medical treatment and they are in stable condition.
Local activists who joined a march against the Israeli plan of annexing parts of the West Bank said that dozens of Palestinians demonstrated in the village of Turmus Ayya north of Ramallah.
Saeed Talib, mayor of the village, told reporters that Israeli soldiers opened fire and tear gas at the Palestinian demonstrators who joined the peaceful march.
“The Palestinian citizens joined the peaceful march to express their refusal of establishing a new Israeli settlement outpost on the lands of their village,” said the mayor.
Meanwhile, Israeli army forces dispersed dozens of Palestinians that joined another march against the Israeli annexation plan in the village of Kafr Qaddum east of Qalqiliya in northern West Bank.
The clashes come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that his plan to annex portions of the Israeli-occupied West Bank “isn’t off the table” yet.
Netanyahu had set July 1 as the starting date for his controversial plan to annex the Jordan Valley, an area in the occupied West Bank.
As the deadline slipped after the White House did not give a green light, Netanyahu said discussions with the US teams will continue.
The Palestinians, who claim all of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, have rejected the idea.
More than 600,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
–IANS
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