Israeli occupation forces shot and injured a Palestinian protester in the West Bank, activists in Nabi Saleh village near Ramallah said to Ma’an News Agency on Friday. The protester was shot in the leg, activists said.
Two protesters were arrested at the demonstration, they said, while a photographer suffered a light injury from a tear-gas canister.
An Israeli military spokesman said the injured protester was hurling rocks at security forces before they opened fire with 0.22 inch caliber rounds targeting the lower part of his body. A border policeman was also injured at the demonstration, the spokesman said. Earlier this month, a demonstrator died after succumbing to his wounds sustained during a similar protest in the village. Mustafa Tamimi had been shot in the face by a tear-gas canister.
The Palestinian protester injured today by Israeli army (Photo: Ma’an)
The occupation army does not classify 0.22 inch caliber bullets as a means to disperse demonstrators or quell disturbances, the Israeli Military’s Judge Advocate General, Brig. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, informed B’Tselem. Since the end of 2008, occupation forces in the West Bank have used 0.22-caliber bullets as an additional means, along with the firing of rubber-coated metal bullets and tear-gas, to disperse demonstrators. In addition, in media statements the IDF Spokesperson referred to 0.22-caliber bullets as a crowd-control measure. As a result of the use of 0.22 bullets, at least two unarmed Palestinians were killed: on 13 February 2009, ‘Az a-Din al-Jamal, age 14, in Hebron, and on 5 June 2009, ‘Aqel Sror, age 35 in a demonstration in the village of Ni’lin. Dozens of persons have been wounded, some seriously.
B’Tselem had written to the Judge Advocate General, demanding that the army cease firing this ammunition at unarmed demonstrators in the West Bank. In its letter, the organization pointed out that, apparently, soldiers and officers in the field view 0.22-caliber ammunition as a means to disperse demonstrators, which led to its widespread and dangerous use. B’Tselem found that 0.22-caliber bullets were not fired in life-threatening situations, but during clashes with demonstrators, some of whom were throwing stones at Israeli forces. B’Tselem provided the JAG with video footage of Border Police officers firing 0.22-caliber bullets in situations in which their lives were not in danger.
Related:
Israeli occupation forces detained 15 protestersin Nabi saleh
