Israeli Occupation Forces Attack University, Shoot Down Nine

9 Palestinians shot during clashes at Tulkarem university

by Ma'an News

TULKAREM - Nine Palestinians were shot by Israeli forces when clashes broke out at the Palestine Technical University in Tulkarem on Thursday, medics said. The Palestinian Red Crescent told Ma'an that the seven were shot in their lower extremities with live fire and taken to the Thabet Ibin Thabet hospital for treatment.

Witnesses said that two youths were also injured with rubber-coated steel bullets, one of whom received fractures to the knee.

Locals told Ma'an that clashes erupted between university students and Israeli forces deployed at a military camp set up on the university’s campus. Sources added that Israeli forces used live fire snipers to suppress the protesters, in addition to firing rubber-coated steel bullets and tear-gas bombs.

An Israeli army spokesperson was not immediately available or comment.

Students of the Palestine Technical University have organized regular marches since the beginning of October to protest Israeli violations and raids onto the university campus. Israeli forces routinely suppress the demonstrations, opening fire on the crowds of students and injuring dozens. They have also detained a number of students during and after clashes.

Campus administrators reported last month that Israeli forces positioned themselves at a temporary base inside the university's campus, from which they open fire on students during clashes.On Wednesday, an alleged Palestinian gunman injured two Israelis in a drive-by shooting in the Tulkarem district. The area has since been put under lockdown by Israeli military forces, who completely sealed the city of Tulkarem, preventing entrance and exit to all residents “except humanitarian cases,” according to an Israeli army spokesperson.

One of those injured in the drive-by was Shaul Nir, a former member of a Jewish extremist group, the Jewish Underground. The group was responsible for carrying out a series of terrorist attacks in the 1980’s and plotted to destroy the Dome of the Rock in order to make way for the erection of a Third Jewish Temple.