At least three Palestinians, including a child, were injured today at noon, after being shot by Israeli forces’ rubber-coated-steel bullets, and dozens of others suffocated as Israeli forces violently suppressed the weekly anti-settlement marches in the village of Kafr Qaddoum to the east of Qalqilia, said local sources. Sources told WAFA that forces attacked participants in the weekly peaceful anti-settlement march with rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters, shooting and injuring three people, including a child, and causing dozens of others to suffocate. Demonstrators also rallied to protest Israel’s closure of the main road that connects the village of Kafr Qaddoum with the city of Nablus since 2003. ‘Before 2003, the residents of Kufr Qaddum would use a shorter road to the east in order to come and go to nearby cities and villages. However, as the settlements expanded so that they overwhelmed the road, it became closed for Palestinian use, said Addameer Human Rights Association. The only alternative road is roughly six times longer than the previous route, disrupting the villagers’ ability to attend university, their jobs, and other vital aspects of their economic and social well-being, noted Addameer. After all legal appeals failed, villagers decided to organize weekly demonstrations in July 2011, a step that was met with violent suppression by Israeli forces.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency (WAFA)