15 Palestinians Hurt in Clashes with Israeli Troops

Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank village of Kfar Qaddum. (AFP)
Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank village of Kfar Qaddum. (AFP)
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15 Palestinians Hurt in Clashes with Israeli Troops

Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank village of Kfar Qaddum. (AFP)
Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank village of Kfar Qaddum. (AFP)

Israeli troops in the West Bank wounded 15 Palestinians with rubber bullets Friday in clashes marking 20 years since the start of the second intifada, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

The incident took place in the village of Kfar Qaddum, near Nablus in the north of the occupied territory, it said, adding that four of the injured were taken to hospital and the others treated on the spot.

The Red Crescent told AFP that it had also aided "dozens" of protesters who inhaled tear gas fired by Israeli forces.

The Israeli army said it had no knowledge of clashes in the village.

Bearing Palestinian flags, a few hundred demonstrators gathered there in the early afternoon, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

Protests against more than five decades of Israeli occupation are a regular weekly occurrence in the West Bank.

Friday's demonstrators also marked the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising which followed late Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's contentious visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on September 28, 2000.

The second intifada ended in February 2005, after the deaths of some 4,700 people, nearly 80 percent of them Palestinians.

Palestinian officials, including the vice-chairman of the Fatah party Mahmoud al-Aloul, participated in Friday's march.



Blinken Speaks to Israel’s Dermer about Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

 A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
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Blinken Speaks to Israel’s Dermer about Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

 A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the importance of improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza in a meeting with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Washington on Monday, the State Department said.

Dermer updated Blinken on operational changes and policy decisions taken by Israel in response to a US letter sent in October, the department said in a statement on Tuesday.

Blinken "emphasized the importance of ensuring those changes lead to an actual improvement in the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, including through the delivery of additional assistance to civilians throughout Gaza," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in the statement.