Israeli forces clash with, injure Palestinians at al-Quds University

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces shot and injured three Palestinians with rubber-coated steel bullets in clashes outside the al-Quds University’s campus in Abu Dis on Sunday, a local resistance committee spokesperson said.

Hani Halabeya told Ma’an that in addition to the three shot with rubber-coated bullets, dozens more Palestinians suffered excessive tear gas inhalation during the clashes.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement that Israeli soldiers attacked one of its ambulance crews tending to injured Palestinians outside the university.

The clashes came amid soaring tensions across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, with dozens of Palestinians injured.

While tension has been mounting for weeks over continual restrictions on Palestinians seeking to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, the most recent outbreak of violence followed a series of attacks on Israelis and Israel’s subsequent reprisals.

One of the Palestinian attackers, 19-year-old Mohannad Shafiq Halabi — who was shot dead on Saturday after killing two Israelis and injuring two more in a stabbing attack — was reportedly a law student at al-Quds University in Abu Dis.

Several days before the attack, Israeli media reported that Halabi posted a photograph on Facebook of Diya Talahmeh, another Palestinian studying at al-Quds University who died in unclear circumstances in the West Bank village of Khursa in September.

The Israeli army has insisted that Talahmeh died when he threw an explosive device at Israeli soldiers that exploded prematurely.

However, Palestinian security forces said he was shot by Israeli forces, while some Palestinians who saw Talahmeh’s body told Ma’an that it appeared he may have had a single bullet shot in his head in addition to injuries from explosive material.

In clashes across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Palestinian Red Cresent reported at least 77 Palestinians injured in a 24-hour period.