At least 29 Palestinians injured as they marched across the West Bank to mark Nakba Day and protest against the Israeli occupation
Ramallah, May 15 (RH)-- Israeli forces wounded dozens of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank during protests to mark the Nakba, when nearly 800,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes to make way for the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
Protesters commemorating the 73rd anniversary of Nakba, or “Catastrophe”, Day on Saturday across the West Bank also chanted slogans against Israel’s ongoing aerial bombardment in Gaza, the threat of forced expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers, and repeated Israeli raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces injured at least 29 Palestinians on Saturday, with 17 of them shot by live fire. However, the level of violence was lower than on Friday, when at least 11 Palestinians were killed and more than 500 injured in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces.
In Ramallah, Nakba sirens rang out at midday on Saturday and hundreds of Palestinians gathered waving Palestinian flags and black flags adorned with keys, representing their dispossession and their right of return.
Demonstrators confronted Israeli forces in Hebron, Ramallah, and the northern cities of Nablus and Qalqilya.
A sombre mood prevailed as the crowd of Palestinians of all ages, political persuasions and backgrounds began marching towards an Israeli military checkpoint near the illegal settlement of Beit El, 3.5km (2 miles) from central Ramallah, chanting: “With our blood and with our soul we shall redeem you Al-Aqsa.”
Unlike previous years, there were no attempts by the Palestinian police stationed at various points along the route to stop the march.
For the next few hours, some Palestinian protesters lit tyres and threw stones towards Israeli soldiers, who responded sporadically with stun grenades and volleys of tear gas canisters. Several ambulances ferried wounded protesters to hospital.
