Several Israelis, Palestinians Wounded In West Bank Clashes

An Israeli soldier stands guard near the Qalandiya checkpoint, June 20, 2017. Photo: Reuters / Ammar Awad
An Israeli soldier stands guard near the Qalandiya checkpoint, June 20, 2017. Photo: Reuters / Ammar Awad
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Several Israelis, Palestinians Wounded In West Bank Clashes

An Israeli soldier stands guard near the Qalandiya checkpoint, June 20, 2017. Photo: Reuters / Ammar Awad
An Israeli soldier stands guard near the Qalandiya checkpoint, June 20, 2017. Photo: Reuters / Ammar Awad

Violent clashes erupted Monday morning between Palestinians and Israeli troops at a Jerusalem refugee camp in the West Bank leaving injuries on both sides.

Six Israeli border troops were hurt when residents from the Qalandiya refugee camp rioted and hurled cinderblocks and other heavy objects at officers from roofs.

On the Palestinian side, five youths were wounded during the clashes that went on for five hours.

According to eyewitnesses, occupation forces stormed the camp and citizens assumed they were after arresting a group of youths who were against the settlement plots.

However, the Israeli army spokesman said that the forces wanted to arrest traders of stolen cars.

An official from Fatah Movement said that the Israeli occupation wanted to arrest the sons of martyr Khaled Hamad.

The official said Israeli forces wanted to cause panic among Palestinians and make them refrain from participating in protests against the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee's decision to build 9,000 new settlement units in Bnei Atarot.

The residents of Jerusalem and the suburbs, including residents of Qalandiya, consider this plan a threat to the establishment of a Palestinian state, which promoted a number of Palestinians to protest.

Also, a group of Palestinians prepared an ambush for the Israeli soldiers attacked them with stones, hot water, and heavy tools as they advanced.

The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry said that the Palestinians were injured from live fire, adding that they were immediately admitted to surgery at Ramallah hospital in an effort to save their lives.



Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Pope Francis on Thursday stepped up his recent criticisms of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave "very serious and shameful.”

In a yearly address to diplomats delivered on his behalf by an aide, Francis appeared to reference deaths caused by winter cold in Gaza, where there is almost no electricity.

"We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians," the text said, according to Reuters.
"We cannot accept that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country's energy network has been hit."

The pope, 88, was present for the address but asked an aide to read it for him as he is recovering from a cold.

The comments were part of an address to Vatican-accredited envoys from some 184 countries that is sometimes called the pope's 'state of the world' speech. The Israeli ambassador to the Holy See was among those present for the event.

Francis, leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts.
But he has recently been more outspoken about Israel's military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas, and has suggested
the global community should study whether the offensive constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
An Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff in December for that suggestion.

The pope's text said he condemns anti-Semitism, and called the growth of anti-Semitic groups "a source of deep concern."
Francis also called for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, which has killed tens of thousands.