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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- At least three Palestinians were struck by bullets or tear gas canisters and dozens more suffered from tear-gas inhalation as Israeli forces opened fire on protests across the West Bank on Friday.

Israeli forces also assaulted a television crew covering the protests in one village.

Protests against the Israeli occupation and separation wall took place in villages across the West Bank, including in Bilin, Nabi Saleh, al-Masara, Tuqu, and Kafr Qaddum.

Dozens were also injured in protests in East Jerusalem and near Jerusalem, specifically at Kabsa Junction, Qalandia, and in Issawiya neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

One man was shot in the back and dozens were injured by excessive tear-gas inhalation during clashes between activists and Israeli forces in the central West Bank village of Bilin.

Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at protesters as they neared their lands close to the wall. They chased protesters through the fields and shot Majd Burnat, 18, with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the back.

Israeli forces also assaulted a Palestine TV crew while they were covering the protest.

Protesters held Palestinian flags and chanted songs calling for unity and the release and freedom of Palestinian prisoners.

This week’s protest was held in solidarity with Palestinian holy sites and Jerusalem.

Since 2005, Bilin villagers have protested on a weekly basis against the Israeli separation wall that runs through their village on land confiscated from local farmers.

Previous protests by Bilin activists have forced the Israeli authorities to re-route the wall, but large chunks of the village lands remain inaccessible to residents because of the route.

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