Israeli troops kill 10 Palestinians, wound hundreds in West Bank

Israeli violence on Fridays in the area is a traditional facet of the long running oppression but the fresh attacks comes as Israel is engaged in major aggression with Palestinians in blockaded Gaza.

An wounded Palestinian demonstrator gestures as he is evacuated during clashes with Israeli forces at a protest over tension in Jerusalem and Israel's attack on Gaza, near Hawara checkpoint near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, May 14, 2021.
Reuters

An wounded Palestinian demonstrator gestures as he is evacuated during clashes with Israeli forces at a protest over tension in Jerusalem and Israel's attack on Gaza, near Hawara checkpoint near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, May 14, 2021.

At least 10 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank where forces are using live fire against protesters, leaving hundreds of Palestinians wounded.

According to a statement by the Palestine Red Crescent Society on Friday, its medical teams dealt with 10 fatalities and 500 wounded in different parts of the occupied West Bank. 

Israeli violence on Fridays in the area is a traditional facet of the long running oppression, but the fresh attacks comes as Israel is engaged in major aggression with Palestinians in blockaded Gaza where at least 122 Palestinians, including 31 children and 20 women, have been killed, and 900 others wounded in the ongoing Israeli aggression. 

"Two citizens who arrived in serious condition at Salfit hospital after being wounded by Israeli army's live fire to the chest and stomach ... are dead," Palestine's Health Ministry said on Friday, after announcing two other deaths earlier in the day. Salfit is a Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank adjacent to an Israeli settlement.

Later seven deaths were reported. 

Then the Palestinian Health Ministry reported the death of an eighth man, shot in the head in al Rihiya. He was taken to Yatta Governmental Hospital.

Later in the evening, health officials said a ninth Palestinian was killed in Salem and a tenth died after being shot by live bullets in the head in Asira al Qibliya, near the city of Nablus.

Those deaths come hours after after the Israeli army reported that one person was killed after attempting to stab an Israeli soldier. That came after six other Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the occupied West Bank earlier in the day.

READ MORE: Palestinians in Gaza flee homes as over 100 dead in Israeli attacks

Controversial shootings

Rights groups have condemned past shootings of Palestinians by the Israeli military under questionable circumstances.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said Friday's West Bank clashes, affecting multiple locations, had left hundreds of people wounded, including from tear gas and rubber bullets.

A Palestinian security source said that Friday's unrest was "the most intense since the second intifida," the uprising that began in 2000.

READ MORE: Israel intensifies attacks on Gaza as death toll mounts

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Israeli forces tear gassed Palestinian demonstrators near Hawara checkpoint near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Heavily armed Israeli police were in Hebron where Palestinians protested over tension in Jerusalem and Gaza violence. A handful of protesters in Hebron were carrying mere slingshots as a defence against the well-armed troops.

Tensions flared in occupied Jerusalem during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The Israeli police deployed heavy-handed tactics against Palestinian worshippers in and around Al Aqsa Mosque in the last week of the holy month.

Another flashpoint in recent days has been a court case that could end with Palestinian families evicted from occupied East Jerusalem homes in Sheikh Jarrah claimed by Jewish settlers. 

If the court rules for the settlers, Palestinians living in the neighbourhood would be displaced for a second time, the first when they were moved into Sheikh Jarrah as refugees by Jordan in the 1950s.

Palestinians protesting in solidarity with the residents of Sheikh Jarrah have been targeted by Israeli forces.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the entire city in 1980 – a move that has never been recognised by the international community.

READ MORE: Palestinians in Gaza flee homes as over 100 dead in Israeli attacks

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Jordanians rally for Palestinians

Meanwhile, Jordanian riot police forcibly dispersed hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters trying to reach a bridge that leads to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Witnesses said police fired tear gas and shot into the air to halt about 500 young demonstrators, who broke away from the scheduled route of a march near the borders organised to protest Israeli attacks on Palestinians.

The demonstrators were within five kilometres of the King Hussein Bridge, known in Israel as the Allenby Bridge, in the Jordan Valley opposite the Palestinian city of Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Witnesses said about 2,000 people took part in the protest, arranged by a mix of opposition parties and tribal groups in a kingdom where passions are running high since the escalation of violence between Palestinians and Israel.

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