PA security services clash with protesters in Bethlehem

For the second day, Palestinian protestors took to the streets in Bethlehem yesterday, calling for the governor of the city and Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to step down.

The demonstrators were protesting against the PA security services’ assault on a Palestinian youth in a rally organised a couple of days ago in solidarity with Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The PA announced yesterday that it sacked the security members, who were involved in the assault of the Palestinian youth, including senior ranking officers.

But the protestors demanded the resignation of the city’s governor and they also called for the ouster of Mahmoud Abbas.

Sources told Arabs48.com that severe clashes erupted when the protestors apprached the main headquarters of the PA security services in Bethlehem. The PA officers opened fire and protestors threw stones at the police station.

Gunmen responded with gunfire and, according to eyewitnesses, a number of the security officers were wounded and admitted to hospital for treatement.

Meanwhile, media sources said that the security services arrested journalists Mohsin Amarin, Ata Manaa and Moaz Amarneh while they were covering the incidents.