Israeli soldiers used tear gas and opened fire to quell a stone-throwing demonstration by women and youths in Sidon, south Lebanon today. A 20-year old women was reported wounded in the leg and hospitalized and three other women were reported injured. Four persons were detained on charges of inciting to riot.
The demonstrators, about a dozen women, were demanding the release of some 5,000 Palestinians held by Israel in the Ansar detention camp in south Lebanon. The Israelis have been releasing selected prisoners and today’s violence was triggered when a bus carrying ten freed prisoners arrived in the town.
The women, joined by a large crowd of youths, began stoning soldiers guarding the mayor’s office. The soldiers fired tear-gas to disperse them and when that failed, they fired their weapons into the air, according to the Israeli account.
An Israeli spokesman confirmed that one woman was wounded and would be hospitalized for several days. He said the other injured women were hurt when one fell, another was cut by wire and a third inhaled tear gas.
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