BETHLEHEM, May 10, 2018 (WAFA) – Israeli soldiers Thursday crushed a march in Bethlehem marking 70 years for the Palestinian uprooting from their homes and land, the Nakba, and protesting the opening of a US embassy in Jerusalem.

Palestinians marched from Bethlehem city center to a hill overlooking the illegal Israeli settlement of Har Homa, built on Beit Sahour land north of Bethlehem, demanding their right to return to their homes they were force out from in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that led to the creation of Israel and the start of the Palestinian refugee issue.

The protesters also yelled slogans against the opening of a US embassy in Jerusalem slated for May 14, the day the Palestinians lament as Nakba Day.

Soldiers stationed at the settlement fired tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades at the protesters, forcing them to disperse and causing several suffocation cases but no injuries.

M.K.