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by IMEMC & Agencies

[Thursday Evening, January 23, 2014] Israeli soldiers installed a sudden roadblock at the entrance of Kufur Qaddoum village, east of the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, and kidnapped one Palestinian.

Eyewitnesses said that the soldiers stopped and searched dozens of vehicles while inspecting the ID cards of the passengers, and kidnapped Mohammad Shaker Shokry, 23.

Shokry is a Palestinian police officer, and is a student at the Najah National University, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus; the soldiers moved him to an unknown destination.

Morad Eshteiwy, coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Kufur Qaddoum, stated that Israeli soldiers have kidnapped more than 120 Palestinians in the village, since it started its protests several years ago.

The villagers are protesting Israel’s illegitimate settlements built on their lands, the Annexation Wall and the closure of the village’s main road.

Also on Thursday, several Israeli military vehicles invaded various neighborhoods in Doura, south of Hebron, broke into and searched several homes.

The soldiers also confiscated a truck belonging to resident Ali Abu Attoun, and took it to a nearby military base.

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli soldiers kidnapped eight Palestinians in the West Bank districts of Hebron and Bethlehem.

The army violently broke into dozens of homes and searched them, causing excessive property damage. The soldiers also installed several roadblocks in different parts of the occupied West Bank.

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Friday, January 24, 2014

QALQILIYA (Ma'an) -- One man was struck in the shoulder by a tear-gas canister and dozens suffered from excessive tear-gas inhalation after Israeli forces raided the village of Kafr Qaddum following a protest.

Witnesses said Israeli forces fired tear gas into residential areas in the village as clashes broke out following the village's weekly protest, hitting one man and injuring dozens, including a 2-month-old infant.

Photographer Jafar Shtayyah, meanwhile, was struck with a tear-gas canister fired by Israeli forces in the shoulder.

Coordinator for the local popular resistance committee Murad Shtewi said that Israeli forces fired over 10 tear-gas canisters toward his house, causing his family to suffer from the tear-gas inhalation.

Among those affected by the use of excessive tear gas was his 2-month old daughter, Bisan.

An Israeli spokeswoman said she was not familiar with the incident.

Protests are held every Friday in Kafr Qaddum against Israel's closure of a main road linking the village to its nearest city, Nablus. The road has been closed since 2000.

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.