80 Palestinians wounded by Israel in West Bank

Israeli occupation forces wounded 81 Palestinian protesters across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem yesterday, the Anadolu Agency reported the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC) saying.

In a statement, the PRC said that its staff offered first aid to three Palestinians wounded with live ammunition and 23 others with rubber-coated steel bullets.

Meanwhile, 43 Palestinian protesters suffered from suffocation due to the heavy tear gas fired at them by the Israeli occupation forces and 12 others suffered burns and bruises.

Witnesses said Israeli occupation forces had a heavy handed response to Palestinian protesters at the Qalandia checkpoint, near Ramallah, at Nabi Saleh Village, Bab Al-Zawiyeh and Halhoul in Hebron, at Al-Naqqar area in Tulkarm and at the Israeli military checkpoint of Huwwara near Nablus.

Since 6 December, when the US President Donald Trump announced his administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Palestinians have taken to the streets in protest.

After more than 3,400 Palestinians were injured in protests, the UN condemned the “level of casualties” as a result of the Israeli response, saying it “raises serious concerns as to whether the force used by Israeli forces was properly calibrated to the threat.”

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