HEBRON, Friday, January 27, 2023 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Thursday evening quelled a rally in Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron, causing dozens to suffocate, according to a media activist.

Mohammad Awad said that Israeli forces forcefully dispersed Palestinians who took to the streets in the southern West Bank town to the protest the killing of nine Palestinians and wounding 20 others by Israeli army gunfire in a Jenin raid.

The heavily-armed soldiers, who sealed off the town entrance, opened fire towards the rally participants, causing scores to suffocate.

All the suffocation cases were treated at the scene.

On Thursday, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, and wounded 20 others in a raid on the northern West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, in what was described one of the deadliest days in the occupied West Bank since Israel ramped up raids at the start of 2021.

A tenth Palestinian was also killed by Israel in al-Ram town, north of Jerusalem.

This came as Palestinians observed a general strike in the occupied West Bank to mourn the nine slain fatalities.

Shops were shuttered in all West Bank cities, schools and universities suspended studies and businesses shut down.

K.F.