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Photo:
Scene. Published by Maan News
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RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Three photojournalists were injured by Israeli forces, on Tuesday, as soldiers opened fire towards them in the Ras Karkar village in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah.

Locals said that Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets towards journalists, injuring three photojournalists in the Ras Karkar village.

Sources identified them as Abbas Mumani working for the Agence France-Presse (AFP), Issam Rimawi for Anadolu Agency and a French photojournalist, whose identity remained unknown.

The photojournalists were shot as they were covering a protest organized by the residents of the villages of Ras Karkar, Kafr Nimeh and Kharbatha, rejecting an Israeli decision to confiscate their lands for the establishment of a new illegal Israeli settlement.

Locals said that Israeli forces specifically targeted the photojournalists.

Last week, Israeli forces assaulted and detained a Palestinian photojournalist, as he was covering Israel's attempt to confiscate lands in the Ras Karkar village.

It is noteworthy that several clashes occurred in the Ras Karkar village after Israeli forces along with bulldozers began to raze dozens of acres of Palestinian agricultural land, causing confrontations with the residents, who were protesting the further illegal Israeli settlement expansion.

The Israeli NGO B'Tselem reported that "Israeli settler violence and vandalism takes place with full backing by the Israeli authorities. Sometimes soldiers take part in the assault; at other times, they stand idly by. The police makes no substantial effort to investigate the incidents, nor takes measures to prevent them or stop them in real time."