HEBRON: A number of Palestinians Friday evening suffocated from Israeli army gunfire in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron, according to WAFA correspondent.
He said that the occupation forces stormed the southern part of the city and fired volleys of tear gas canisters and stun grenades towards the residents, causing a number to suffocate from tear gas inhalation.
He added that the gun-toting soldiers imposed a curfew in the area and tightened restrictions in the Hebron neighbourhoods of Jaber, as-Salaymeh and Wadi al-Hasin.
The city of Hebron, which houses the Ibrahimi Mosque, is home to roughly 160,000 Palestinian Muslims and about 800 notoriously aggressive Israeli settlers who live in compounds heavily guarded by Israeli troops.
Palestinians of the city face a large Israeli military presence daily with at least 32 permanent and partial checkpoints set up at the entrances of many streets.
Since the 1994 Ibrahimi Mosque massacre that claimed the lives of 29 Palestinians, Palestinians have n
ot been allowed to access the main al-Shuhada Street and have had their homes and shops on the street welded shut. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers move freely on the street, drive cars and carry machine guns.
Israel has expelled the only international monitors protecting Hebron’s Palestinians from 800 heavily guarded settlers, one of whom committed the 1994 massacre that triggered their deployment.
Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA
