Several Palestinian civilians confront Israeli forces near Nablus, protecting themselves with a cardboard sheet. /
Meanwhile, in Jerusalem there was a tense day due to the controversial ‘march of the flags’, of a marked nationalist nature
At least 219 civilians were injured this Sunday, 16 of them by bullets, during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the region of the West Bank city of Nablus. These riots are linked to the so-called Jerusalem Day, in which thousands of Israeli ultra-nationalists march through the Arab part of the city.
A correspondent for the Palestinian Wafa news agency noted that the Nablus clashes began in the Hawara checkpoint and in the town of Beita, south of Nablus, before the start of a Fatah demonstration. Israeli security forces responded with live fire, tear gas and sound bombs.
In Beita, four civilians were reported injured by firearms, two by rubber-covered steel balls and 27 more had to be treated for suffocation by tear gas. The injured were taken to the Rafidia Hospital, according to Europa Press.
Four other civilians were injured by bullets in the Hawara control area, where seven more civilians were reported injured by rubber-coated steel balls, another five by burns, three by falls and 63 by suffocation.
Clashes were also reported in the West Bank towns of Burqa, Bazaria, Burin, Qusra and Cyrenaica. In them, Israeli forces used tear gas and sound bombs against demonstrators and homes.
weeks of tension
While that was happening this Sunday in the West Bank, thousands of people took Jerusalem with the controversial ‘march of the flags’, a nationalist initiative with which the Israelis remember the occupation of the eastern part of the city, which coincides this year with weeks of tensions . Among the slogans launched in this procession, which recalls the “reunification” of the town whose eastern part was occupied by Israel in 1967 and annexed in 1980, phrases such as “death to the Arabs” could be heard. In response, Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called the anti-Arab proclamations a “disgrace.”
Thousands of participants this Sunday in the so-called ‘march of the flags’ through the old city of Jerusalem. /
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned that the Police would have “zero tolerance” for Jewish extremists who seek to aggravate tensions, which have been escalating for weeks. For this reason, the Government mobilized around 3,000 agents throughout Jerusalem, who arrested more than twenty people for disorderly conduct.
The Palestinian Red Crescent, a humanitarian organization that is part of the Red Cross, said that about 40 Palestinians were injured in the Old City after clashes. In the 2021 march, the Police blocked access to the Old City and at least 33 Palestinians were injured and another 17 arrested. That day was full of tension after threats from Hamas, which did not rule out the firing of rockets in response to a march that it described as “provocation.”
The aforementioned Islamist group already did so on May 10 when this same demonstration was suspended at the last second by the Police due to the strong tension in the holy city. However, in 2021, instead of projectiles from the Strip, incendiary balloons came out, causing several fires.
