QALQILYA, February 21, 2025 (WAFA) – A Palestinian child was injured on Friday evening by rubber-coated metal bullets, and dozens of others suffocated by tear gas during confrontations with Israeli occupation forces in the village of Kafr Qaddum, east of Qalqilya, according to a local activist.

The coordinator of the popular resistance committee in the village of Kafr Qaddum, Murad Shtawi, reported that confrontations erupted between dozens of Palestinian youths and Israeli soldiers in the said village.

Forces attacked the youths with rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters, shooting and injuring a 17-year-old teenager in the leg. Dozens of others suffocated due to tear gas inhalation.

Since July 2011, Kafr Qaddum has held weekly marches in protest of Israel’s colonial expansion plans. Residents also rally to demand the reopening of the village’s main road, which has been blocked by Israeli forces since 2003.

The only alternative road is roughly six times longer than the previous route, disrupting the villagers’ ability to attend university, their jobs, and other vital aspects of their economic and social well-being, noted Addameer Human Rights Association.

Although Kufr Qaddum’s Popular Resistance Committee took their case to the Israeli High Court in 2003, the legal status of the road remains unchanged, stressed Addameer.

After all legal appeals failed, villagers decided to organize weekly demonstrations in July 2011, a step that was met with violent suppression by Israeli forces.

T.R.