Friday, July 17, 2009

In the West Bank, the IDF declares 300 d. of Palestinian agricultural land e. of Carmiel settlement nr. Hebron a closed military zone; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades, tear gas, and a foul-smelling spray called “skunk” (not used by the IDF for many mos.; see Quarterly Update in JPS 149) at stone-throwing Palestinians protesting the separation wall in Bil‘in, causing no major injuries; fires tear gas at Palestinian and international activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in al-Ma‘sara, violently beating 3 Palestinian demonstrators (including a 14-yr.-old boy); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Bil‘in, nr. Hebron. (OCHA, CHR 7/23)