Israeli forces injure over 6 Palestinians in Beita in Nablus

Nablus – At least 6 Palestinian protesters were injuried by Israeli occupation forces on Friday in Beita village in Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 6 Palestinians were injured till now, 5 of them with rubber-coated metal bullets, fired at them by the Israeli forces in Beita and one suffocated with teargas.

Beita village becomes a site of weekly protests against the Israeli occupation and settlement expansion, which are often suppressed by Israeli forces.

The occupation authorities evacuated dozens of Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Evyatar in Beita, after a deal was reached between a settler leader and the occupation government of new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

Yossi Dagan, head of settler organisation the Shomron Regional Council, struck a deal with Israel’s defence minister, Benny Gantz, and interior minister Ayelet Shaked, that will turn Evyatar into a religious school and a military base for the Israeli forces.

‘Israel’ will keep about 50 caravan houses settlers installed in May on Palestinian lands belonging to the residents of the occupied West Bank village of Beita, while settlers would “return” to the land when Israeli occupation authorities designate it as “state-owned.”

In early May, a group of Israeli settlers set up caravans on Jabal Sabih, and with the help of Israeli occupation forces have since prevented any Palestinian access to the area.

Within days, settlers installed mobile houses, built roads and raised an Israeli flag over the settlement.

Since then, Beita has witnessed several protests against the new settler outpost on Jabal Sabih, which lies on the southern outskirts of the village and comprises an estimated 30 percent of Beita’s entire land area.

The Israeli forces, however, have suppressed, detained, and assaulted the protesters, resulting in injuring hundreds and killing others as they have fired rubber-coated metal bullets, teargas canisters, and live ammunition.

Since the start of the protests, 8 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli forces while defending their land: Issa Barham, Tariq Sanbar, Ahmed Bani Shams, Shadi Shurafa, Emad Dweikat, Mohammed Hamayel, Zakaria Hamayel, Mohamed al-Kabisa.

The livelihoods of at least 17 Palestinian families – more than 100 people – are threatened as they depend on harvesting their olives on land they have owned for generations.