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Photos by Anne Paq/ActiveStills

Manal Tamimi makes a victory sign after being shot with live ammunition during the weekly protest against the occupation, Nabi Saleh, West Bank, April 3, 2015.

Manal Tamimi marches with other protesters, a few seconds after she was hit by live ammunition, Nabi Saleh, West Bank, April 3, 2015.

Israeli soldiers seen firing at protesters during the weekly protest against the occupation, Nabi Saleh, West Bank, April 3, 2015.

Manal Tamimi getting medical treatment after she was shot with live ammunition by Israeli soldiers, Nabi Saleh, West Bank, April 3, 2015.

Manal Tamimi getting medical treatment after being shot with live ammunition, Nabi Saleh, West Bank, April 3, 2015.

Manal Tamimi is evacuated to the hospital during the weekly protest against the occupation, Nabi Saleh, West Bank, April 3, 2015.

A protester’s leg seen in Ramallah’s hospital, West Bank, April 3, 2015. The youth was shot with live ammunition during the weekly protest against the occupation.

Nariman Tamimi seen recovering in her home, four months after she was shot with life ammunition by Israeli forces during the weekly protest against the occupation, Nabi Saleh, West Bank, April 3, 2015. Nariman was shot on Friday November 22, 2014.
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces opened fire on the Nabi Saleh weekly protest on Friday injuring six Palestinian activists, including two with live rounds, an activist group reported Saturday.

International Solidarity Movement issued a statement stating that the weekly march met "extreme violence" from Israeli forces, with four people shot "in the first five minutes of the protest."

These were a man and woman shot with live rounds by "snipers," both in their lower extremities, and two others, one a 14-year old girl, who both were hit with rubber-coated steel bullets, the group said.

They added that the following six hours saw sporadic clashes in which Israeli forces injured two more protesters with rubber-coated bullets, fired stun grenades at Palestinian homes, and fired live rounds inside the village.

The two shot with live fire were identified as Hammad from Al Am'ari Refugee Camp near Ramallah, and Manal Tammimi, a woman from Nabi Saleh. The live bullets reportedly "tore through their shin bones" and they were immediately taken to the hospital.

The 14-year old girl, a native of Nabi Saleh village, was hit by the rubber-coated bullet on her head, the group said, adding that medics said she was lucky not to be more severely injured.

After the initial attack, Israeli forces reportedly broke into the village, shooting live rounds down the streets.

One foreign activist said: "People were shouting to be careful of stray bullets and ducking behind anything that might pass for cover. Being shot at by M16 machine gun fire at a completely peaceful protest that even includes children is both absurd and extreme."

The weekly march was protesting the confiscation of Nabi Saleh's community spring, which was seized by the nearby Israeli settlement of Halamish in 2008, the group said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman asked for comment said she would look into the events.

International Solidarity Movement emphasized that the Israeli use of live ammunition on Friday was a "novelty."

The group said the use of lethal weapons and violence against protesters has been escalating for months.

Dozens more Palestinian and foreign activists were injured in weekly protests across the West Bank on Friday, including one by live fire in the village of Kafr Qaddum near Qalqiliya.

In the last week there has been an upsurge of protests to mark Palestine's 39th Land Day, commemorating Palestinian protests against Israeli land seizures that were violently suppressed on Mar. 30, 1976.
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Photos and report: Anne Paq / Activestills.org

Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition against nonviolent Palestinian protesters in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on Friday. Two Palestinians were wounded, including activist Manal Tamimi.

Tamimi was shot in her leg as she was standing and talking to her friends, only minutes after the protest had begun, along with another young Palestinian. Both were transferred to a Ramallah hospital where they received treatment for their wounds.

Activists report that the army has stepped up its use of live ammunition in the village over the past few months. Nariman Tamimi, a prominent activist in the village’s Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, was shot with live ammunition on November 22, 2014. She is still recovering.

Nonviolent protests in Nabi Saleh began in 2009 after residents from the nearby settlement Halamish took took control over the Ein al-Qaws spring — owned by a resident of the village — preventing Palestinian access to their land.