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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces early Saturday morning raided the al-Duheisha refugee camp in the south of the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, erupting into clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian youths.

Locals told Ma’an Israeli forces erected a military checkpoint near the al-Duheisha-Doha junction and prevented vehicles from passing.

Israeli forces also raided the western part of the camp, causing clashes to break out between Palestinian youths and Israeli soldiers who fired tear gas and stun grenades into the community.

Israeli soldiers also proceeded to remove the gates of several shops in the western part of the camp.

Israeli police spokesperson Luba al-Samri said in a statement that Israeli police and border guards raided the camp after a suspect, stopped by Israeli border guards for inspection at a checkpoint near al-Sawahira, confessed that weapons were being hidden in a shoe shop in al-Duheisha.

"Five suspects were in the vehicle, one of whom was seen trying to hide a mobile phone. When the phone was checked, it contained photos of places where border police officers stop. A photo of a bag with a rifle was also found. The suspect admitted that a bag with a rifle inside was hidden in a shoe shop that his family owns in al-Duheisha refugee camp," the statement said.

Al-Samri said that Israeli forces then raided the camp, where Israeli police and border guards were met with "violent riots," and eventually reached the shoe shop and seized the bag and the rifle, and also detained a 21-year-old suspect from Bethlehem.

"The forces left without any casualties among them," she said, adding that the weapon that was seized was ready to be used in "terrorist" activities, and that investigations were still ongoing.

Israeli military raids on Palestinian refugee camps, towns, and villages are a near daily occurrence, with a biweekly average of at least 73 raids being carried out since the start of 2016, according to UN documentation.

The most recent raid also came on the heels of a report released in August by Palestinian NGO Badil, which is based in Bethlehem, documenting the targeting of Palestinian youths with live fire in al-Duheisha. These injuries typically occur during overnight raids into the refugee camp which routinely erupt into violent clashes with Israeli forces.

According to BADIL, 30 Palestinians had been shot with live ammunition in the camp between the beginning of the year and mid-August, the majority in their legs and knees.

Between the end of July and mid-August, BADIL documented that 18 Palestinian youth between 14 and 27 years old were shot in their legs -- eight of which shot directly in the knee and several more in both legs -- causing both permanent and temporary disabilities.

The raids in August came came as reports emerged of an Israeli army commander responsible for Bethlehem’s three refugee camps making repeated threats to make “all youth in the camp disabled.”

The commander, known to locals as “Captain Nidal, ” has made statements such as: “I will make half of you disabled, and let the other half push the wheelchairs,” and “I will make all of you stand in line at the ATM waiting for your disability subsidies and assistance,” according to an investigation by BADIL.

BADIL's investigations continued, releasing another report at the end of September, which documented testimonies from families in al-Duheisha of Captain Nidal making death threats to several camp residents, saying that “the time of shooting you in the legs is over.”

The NGO said that the most recent threats "reinforce the claim made by BADIL that these threats and actions are not accidental or isolated incidents, but rather result from a systematic Israeli military policy aimed at suppressing resistance, terrorizing Palestinian youth, and causing permanent injuries and damage to their physical and mental well-being."

"These willful and grave breaches of international law trigger the obligations of third party states and other mandated agencies to put an end to this climate of impunity under which Israeli forces and its officials operate."

BADIL's collection of testimonies came as the latest report amid years of well documented cases of abuse and mistreatment of Palestinian children by Israeli forces in the occupied territory, including in East Jerusalem, which is under Israeli police jurisdiction.