Clashes with Israeli forces left dozens of Palestinians injured in Kafr Aqab in northern Jerusalem on Tuesday, March 10, Ma’an news agency said. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that nine demonstrators suffered injuries from live fire to their lower extremities, and one was left in critical condition.

Mourners as they attend a memorial service for 18-year-old Saji Darwish, who was shot dead by soldier in March 2014.(Photo: Birzeit University)

Activists told Ma’an that dozens of additional demonstrators sustained light-to-moderate injuries from rubber-coated steel bullets, and many suffered tear-gas inhalation. The clashes broke out after Israeli bulldozers leveled land in the Qalandiya airport area, close to Kafr Aqab. Israel has declared the area a closed military zone. The land was being leveled to continue construction of the separation wall, which already effectively separates the districts of Samir Amis and Kafr Aqab from Jerusalem.

Witnesses said that the ongoing clashes broke out sporadically throughout the day. On Monday, March 9, Israeli forces delivered demolition notices to buildings in the Qalandiya airport area near the wall. Kafr Aqab was annexed by Israel along with the rest of East Jerusalem in 1980 and falls under its full jurisdiction. However, it has been cut off from the city since the construction of the wall.

Another seven Palestinian students were injured by rubber-coated steel bullets on Tuesday as clashes broke out near the Ofer detention center in Ramallah. Students from Birzeit University had gathered to mark the anniversary of the death of Saji Darwish, 18, who was killed by Israeli forces last year.

Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets at the peaceful march. One student, Bayan Safi, was assaulted before being detained and interrogated at the Ofer jail. Two Israeli soldiers were hit with rocks thrown during the clashes, one in the face and one in the leg.

Israeli soldiers shot and killed 18-year-old Saji Darwish near the illegal settlement outpost of Givat Assaf last March, after he allegedly threw stones at vehicles belonging to Israeli settlers in the area. Darwish is the 26th youth to be killed by Israeli forces while a student at Birzeit, according to the Birzeit University Public Relations Office. Thousands of students attended a memorial service in the center of campus for the slain youth last year.