With backing from the Israeli army, hundreds of Israeli settlers stormed the site in the Palestinian-controlled area, sparking clashes with Palestinian residents.

The army began to shoot at Palestinians protesting the raid, injuring several protesters with rubber coated steel bullets.

The Palestinian Red Crescent told Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, WAFA, that three were injured after being shot at and six others were locally treated after being suffocated by tear gas.

Half-a-century of illegal occupation



Israel has occupied the West Bank illegally since 1967, and commits various abuses against Palestinian civilians, human rights groups say.



More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in constructions considered illegal under international law.



The Oslo agreement of 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three: Area A, Area B and Area C.



Area A is under the administrative and security control of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Area B's administration is controlled by the Palestinian Authority, with Israel controlling security. Area C is under full administrative and security control of Israel.



Along with stealing land, Israeli soldiers and settlers routinely harass Palestinians in the occupied territories in various ways.



Israeli forces and settlers routinely harass Palestinians in the occupied territories through harming and killing civilians, demolishing homes, poisoning livestock, vandalising property and other forms of violence.



Israel often forces Palestinians to demolish their own homes under the pretext of not having a building permits.



Applications for building permits often take years to be processed, giving Israeli courts a loophole to increase Palestinian home demolitions by branding structures as "illegal".







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