RESTRICTION SUMMARY: Nablus, 18 February 2022. Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli security forces following a demonstration against settlements in the village of Beita, near the West Bank city of Nablus.

0.1 SOUNDBITE (in Arabic) Khader Adnan, a leader in the Islamic Jihad Movement.

STORYLINE:

Israeli forces dawn Friday cracked down on an anti-settlement protest in Beita town, south of Nablus, injuring 23 Palestinians.

Israeli forces attacked Palestinians who gathered atop Jabal Sabih (Sabih Mountain), near the town, in the early morning hours to confront settlers who planned to reach the hill to rebuild the evacuated colonial settlement outpost of Givat Eviatar.

The heavily-armed soldiers opened fire at the villagers who barricaded themselves at the site, causing 16 to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation, hitting another with rubber-coated steel bullets and another with a tear gas canister.

They also chased protestors determined to confront the settler intrusion, causing five to sustain injuries due to falling from high places.

Two out of the five who fell from high places were rushed to a hospital for treatment, while all other casualties were treated at the scene.

The Israeli military gearing up for a possible anti-settlement protest at the flashpoint site, deploying reinforcements and using bulldozers to block off all roads to the site with earth mounds, obstructing medical crew from reaching the confrontation site to evacuate casualties.

In almost a month, some eight Palestinians from the town were killed and over 620 others were injured while trying to oust the colonial settler outpost built atop Mount Sabih or Sbeih.



Footage by/APAwire