- Title: WEST BANK: Palestinians clash with Israeli soldiers at anti-barrier protest
- Date: 28th December 2010
- Summary: BEITIN CHECKPOINT, WEST BANK (DECEMBER 27, 2010) (REUTERS) ISRAELI ARMY JEEP PARKED AT BEITIN CHECKPOINT CLOSE OF BARBED WIRE BLOCK WITH GRAFFITI READING IN ARABIC 'CLOSED ROAD' VARIOUS OF INTERNATIONAL AND PALESTINIAN PEACE ACTIVISTS MARCHING TOWARDS CHECKPOINT, WAVING PALESTINIAN FLAGS TROOPS MANNING CHECKPOINT TROOPS GUARDING PROTEST A TEAR GAS CANISTER FIRED BY ISRAELI TROOPS EXPLODING SOLDIERS THROWING AND FIRING TEAR GAS GRENADES VARIOUS OF GRENADES EXPLODING NEXT TO PROTESTERS SOLDIERS PULLING A PEACE ACTIVIST MORE OF SOLDIERS FIRING TEAR GAS SMOKE RISING A WOUNDED MAN, ESCORTED BY OTHER PROTESTERS, RUNNING AWAY VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS FIRING TEAR GAS PROTESTERS FLEEING VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS FIRING TEAR GAS ELDERLY MAN MARCHING WITH A PALESTINIAN FLAG
- Embargoed: 12th January 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: West bank, West bank
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Defence / Military
- Reuters ID: LVA7QWC9609JAAO6BK6DZULKJJJX
- Story Text: Scuffles erupted on Monday (December 27) between Israeli soldiers and pro-Palestinian demonstrators who tried to breach a West Bank checkpoint.
Several hundred protesters arrived to the checkpoint chanting and waving flags, but as soon as they tried to march through the checkpoint, Israeli soldiers began firing tear gas canisters.
At least one protester was injured.
The Israeli army spokesperson unit said that at least 150 people took part in a violent demonstration, to which the army responded with riot-dispersal means.
Weekly protests take place in several areas in the West Bank to protest Israel's barrier, clashes frequently ensue.
Palestinians condemn the project for looping around settlement blocs in the West Bank, where they want to set up a state.
Israel credits the barrier -- a network of fences interspersed with concrete walls, projected to be 720 km (450 miles) long when complete -- with stemming Palestinian suicide bombings that peaked in 2002 and 2003.
In 2006, it added a 110-km (68-mile) segment to its original plan so the barrier would snake around several Jewish settlements and parts of Arab East Jerusalem.
A non-binding ruling by the World Court in 2004, which Israel rejected, said the barrier was illegal. Israel says the project could be demolished altogether should peace prevail.
The prospects of that happening look dim given the diplomatic deadlock over Israel's refusal to halt all settlement construction and the Palestinians' internal divisions.
The barrier has also drawn other international condemnation. Even Israel's main ally, the United States, has called it unhelpful.
Human rights groups say the barrier has effectively isolated some 60,500 Palestinians from the rest of the West Bank, and thousands more live in villages surrounded on at least three sides by the barricades, which restricts their ability to move around. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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