(JTA) — Several people were injured in West Bank protests staged in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners.
An Israel Defense Forces soldier was lightly wounded on Feb. 15 near Baytuniya checkpoint north of Jerusalem. Several hundred protesters pelted the checkpoint with stones and other objects, the news site Ynet reported.
Several of the demonstrators were also wounded and some inhaled tear gas fired by the Israeli troops
According to Army Radio, the crowd gathered at the checkpoint in solidarity with several Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike at nearby Ofer Prison.
One of them is Samer al Issawi, who is being held indefinitely under administrative detention rules.
A resident of the eastern Jerusalem neighbourhood of Isawiya, he was one of the 1,027 Palestinians released in exchange for Gilad Shalit, a soldier whom Hamas abducted in 2006 and held until 2011.
Most of the prisoners were released to the Gaza Strip, although many were from the West Bank.
According to reports in Palestinian media, el Issawi was arrested for breaking the condition of his release by visiting the West Bank.
Other rallies were reported in Hebron, at the Jalame crossing north of Jenin, at Nebi Salah, as well as in Qalandia north of Jerusalem.
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