Several Reported Wounded in Riots in Support of Jailed Palestinians
Several people were injured in West Bank protests staged in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners.
An Israel Defense Forces soldier was lightly wounded on Feb. 15 near Baytuniya checkpoint north of Jerusalem. Several hundred protesters pelted the checkpoint with stones and other objects, the news site Ynet reported.
Several of the demonstrators were also wounded and some inhaled tear gas fired by the Israeli troops
According to Army Radio, the crowd gathered at the checkpoint in solidarity with several Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike at nearby Ofer Prison.
One of them is Samer al Issawi, who is being held indefinitely under administrative detention rules.
A resident of the eastern Jerusalem neighbourhood of Isawiya, he was one of the 1,027 Palestinians released in exchange for Gilad Shalit, a soldier whom Hamas abducted in 2006 and held until 2011.
Most of the prisoners were released to the Gaza Strip, although many were from the West Bank.
According to reports in Palestinian media, el Issawi was arrested for breaking the condition of his release by visiting the West Bank.
Other rallies were reported in Hebron, at the Jalame crossing north of Jenin, at Nebi Salah, as well as in Qalandia north of Jerusalem.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
