QALQILIA, Saturday, August 12, 2023 (WAFA) – A 15-year-old Palestinian boy lost an eye after being hit by an Israeli army rubber today during confrontations in the village of Kafr Qaddum, in the West Bank province of Qalqilia, local sources said.

During the confrontations, the sources said, Israeli occupation soldiers attacked the protesters with rubber-coated rounds and tear gas canisters, injuring Tareq Jamal Juma, 15, above his eye and another young man in his shoulder.

Juma, said Murad Shtawi, a local activist, was rushed to the hospital where he underwent surgery during which his right eye was removed.

This is the second incident in which a village resident loses his eye from a rubber-coated metal bullet fired by Israeli occupation soldiers, said Shtawi. The first time was eight years ago. 

For many years, villagers from Kafr Qaddum and neighboring villages have been holding weekly protests against illegal Israeli settlement construction.

More than 650,000 Israeli settlers live in Jewish-only settlements across the occupied Palestinian Territories in violation of international law.

M.N