'23 Palestinians, leftists hurt in clashes with troops in Ni'ilin'

By JPOST.COM STAFF
23 demonstrators were wounded Sunday as some 150 Palestinians and left-wing Israeli activists clashed with IDF soldiers in an anti-security fence protest in the Palestinian village of Ni'ilin, near Modi'in, the protesters reported. The IDF said that the protesters entered a closed military zone and threw stones at the security forces, who responded by using crowd dispersal tactics. The demonstrators said the forces fired rubber bullets and used tear gas. The protesters have been holding regular demonstrations in the area over the last two weeks. They claim the fence being constructed in the area would leave some 2,500 dunams of land from the village on the Israeli side of the fence and eventually be annexed to the settlement Hashmonaim.