Description

A Palestinian youth kicks away a tear gas grenade during clashes with Israeli forces in Aida Refugee Camp in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, November 27, 2013. The clashes were in response to the killing of three Palestinian militants by Israeli forces the previous day in Yatta. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)
Clashes in Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, West Bank, 27.11.2013
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers late Thursday north of Bethlehem, leaving five Palestinians injured, a local official and an army spokeswoman said.

Muhammad Awad, a Bethlehem official in charge of ambulances, told Ma'an that clashes broke out near the entrance of Aida refugee camp.

Ambulances took three injured Palestinians to a hospital in Beit Jala, Awad said.

One of the injured was shot by live ammunition, he added.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli army said that approximately 90 Palestinians hurled rocks at Israeli "security personnel."

In response, Israeli forces "used riot dispersal methods to disperse the violent gathering," she said.

"Five instigators were injured," she said, adding that no Israelis were harmed.

The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.