Protesters run to take cover from tear gas canisters fired by Israeli soldiers and members of Israeli border police following a protest against the expanding of Jewish settlements in the village of Beita, south of the West Bank city of Nablus, July 2, 2021.Photo:Xinhua

Hundreds of Palestinian protesters were injured on Friday in clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, medics and eyewitnesses said.

The clashes broke out near the village of Beita, south of the West Bank city of Nablus. Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and teargas canisters at the protesters, who threw stones at the soldiers, waved Palestinian flags and chanted anti-Israel slogans, said the eyewitnesses.

Medics of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a press statement that at least 150 Palestinians got injured, including a photojournalist and a paramedic.

Every Friday, the Palestinians demonstrate in different areas in the West Bank against the Israeli settlement building and expansion, and usually clash with Israeli soldiers.

Meanwhile, local Palestinian media said Palestinian activists launched for the first time incendiary balloons toward Israeli settlement outposts at the village of Beita.

Overnight, Israeli fighter jets attacked a Hamas military post in Gaza city in response to the arson balloons launched from the Gaza Strip.

Fawzi Barhoum, spokesman of Gaza's ruler Hamas, said Hamas will continue its resistance until Israel regrets its policies against the Palestinians.

"The bombing will not change the Palestinian people's determination to continue the path of struggle by all means of resistance to assert their rights and end their suffering," Barhoum said.

 

Protesters use slingshots to hurl stones at Israeli soldiers and members of Israeli border police during clashes following a protest against the expanding of Jewish settlements in the village of Beita, south of the West Bank city of Nablus, July 2, 2021.Photo:Xinhua

 

Israeli soldiers and members of Israeli border police are seen deployed during a protest against the expanding of Jewish settlements in the village of Beita, south of the West Bank city of Nablus, July 2, 2021.Photo:Xinhua

 

A protester throws back a tear gas canister fired by Israeli soldiers and members of Israeli border police following a protest against the expanding of Jewish settlements in the village of Beita, south of the West Bank city of Nablus, July 2, 2021.Photo:Xinhua