JERUSALEM, January 23, 2010 (WAFA)- This week, Israeli forces injured 15 Palestinians throughout the West Bank, compared to 21 injuries last week and slightly below the 2009 weekly average of 17 Palestinian injuries, said Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in its weekly report  from  January 13 – 19, 2010.

Eight of this week's injuries, including the injury of two boys, occurred during the weekly anti-Barrier protests held in Bil'in village (four) and a protest against the expansion of Hallamish settlement in the Ramallah area (four).

Another three Palestinians sustained injuries when shot by Israeli forces in two separate incidents, including a confrontation in Al Jalazun Refugee Camp (Ramallah) between stone throwing Palestinians and Israeli forces and an incident involving farmers and internationals planting trees in the Al Rish Valley (Hebron), an area previously declared closed by the military.

The remaining four Palestinians were wounded when physically assaulted by Israeli forces in a raid on Al Arroub Refugee Camp in the Hebron governorate (one), while trying to access Israel without a permit (one) and while working the land in the vicinity of the Beitar Ilit settlement in the Bethlehem governorate (two).

Israeli forces conducted 100 search operations inside Palestinian villages, the majority of which took place in the northern West Bank (66), slightly below the weekly average during 2009 (103).