10 Palestinians injured in clashes with settlers, Red Crescent says

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 10 Palestinians were injured Saturday in clashes with Israeli settlers near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. “10 people were injured during settler attacks in the Khala’il al-Luz area, south of Bethlehem, including one wounded by gunfire and nine hurt from beatings,” the organization said in a statement.

The Israeli army, in a joint statement with the police, said its forces “were dispatched to the outskirts of Bethlehem following reports of violent clashes between Israeli civilians and Palestinians.” The statement reported “stone-throwing between Palestinians and Israelis … as well as gunfire in the area directed at Palestinians.”

To end the clashes, Israeli forces used “crowd dispersal methods” and declared a “closed military zone in the area,” the army added. “Several Israeli civilians were injured but refused to receive medical treatment,” the statement said.

Violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, triggered on Oct. 7 by an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel. The violence has continued despite the fragile truce in Gaza since Oct. 10.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, more than 1,000 Palestinians — many fighters but also civilians — have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian Authority data.

At the same time, official Israeli data show that at least 44 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers, have been killed there in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids.