Palestinians downed an Israeli quadcopter dropping tear gas on protestors against the occupation in the town of Beita, south of Nablus in the West Bank, on Friday, October 1. The communist newspaper Al-Ittihad reported that Palestinians removed the downed drone from the scene and took it to an undisclosed location inside the town.
Dozens of Palestinians including a child were injured on Friday by Israel occupation forces during clashes in the villages of Beita in the southern and Kafr Qaddum in the northern occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC). Israeli occupation soldiers shot live gunfire, rubber-coated rounds and stun grenades at the anti-colonization protesters in Beita, injuring11 of them. Another 17 cases of moderate to severe teargas inhalation were reported. Four protesters also sustained injuries after falling on the ground while being chased by soldiers. The11-year-old Palestinian boy who was among Friday’s injured was hit by an Israeli rubber-coated bullet during the weekly anti-colonization protest in Kafr Qaddum in the northern West Bank.
For nearly five months, Palestinians from Beita and neighboring villages have been holding almost daily protests against Israel’s construction of an illegal settlement outpost, Evaytar, on an elevation named Jabal Sabih adjacent to the village. During recurrent clashes over this five month period, seven Palestinian protesters have been killed and dozens wounded by Israeli occupation forces. In July, Israeli settlers vacated the illegal outpost under an agreement with the occupying government that will allow for the outpost to remain intact and under permanent supervision of the Israeli army, despite its initial unauthorized construction.
The quadcopter downed in Beita on Friday was the second Israeli drone to be downed in two days. On Thursday, an Israeli army quadcopter was downed by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military said on Twitter that “during routine activity, an IDF [sic] drone fell within Lebanese territory. The incident is being investigated.” Last week, another Israeli army quadcopter “fell due to a malfunction” in Syrian territory.