Clashes increase between Palestinians and Israeli forces

Clashes broke out yesterday morning between Palestinian youths and Israeli police officers in the town of Al-Issawiya, north of Jerusalem, as the area witnessed intense gas and sound bombs.

Israel placed concrete slabs at the eastern entrance of the town a few days ago which angered parents and increased tensions.

Masked Palestinian youths threw stones at Israeli forces stationed at the entrance to the town. The police forces responded with a barrage of smoke and sound bombs and rubber-coated bullets.

A school bus got caught in the crossfire causing a few students to suffer from suffocation from the smoke bombs. Other students walked to the outskirts of the town to get on public transport buses which awaited them at the northern entrance.

The people of Silwan came out yesterday in a mass demonstration to protest against the collective punishment imposed by Israeli occupation forces on the village.

Israel launched a wide campaign of arrests in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Three young men from the village of Mount Scopus, south of Jerusalem, were arrested today, while police asked the courts to impose administrative arrests on several activists from Jerusalem.