Three Palestinian residents wounded by Israeli army fire at a Nablus checkpoint

Monday September 22, 2008 13:27 by IMEMC Staff - IMEMC & Agencies

Three Palestinian residents including a woman were reportedly shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers on Monday at the Israeli checkpoint of Huwwara on Nablus land, Palestinian sources reported.

An Israeli soldier, opening fire at the Hewarra checkpoint'/ Maan News Agency archive

Sources said that the Israeli shooting came right after an Israeli soldier was exposed to chemical substances thrown by a young Palestinian woman at the checkpoint.

Medical sources reported that the Israeli army shot and wounded a lady in her right leg and that one of the wounded youths sustained a bullet to his kidney; the other was shot in his left leg.

All wounded were evacuated to the local hospital of Rafedia, medics confirmed. Witnesses told media outlets that Israeli soldiers closed the Huwwara checkpoint following the incident and that people were denied entry in and out of Nablus. The assailant girl, in her twenties and wearing a long dress and a head-covering, was detained by the Israeli army.

An Israeli ambulance evacuated the soldier who had been wounded by the chemical substance thrown at his face to the Israeli hospital of Balinson for treatment of slight-to-moderate burns.

The Huwwara checkpoint in Nablus was once one of the largest Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank, hampering movement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians daily.

Two weeks ago, another Palestinian woman threw chemical substances at an Israeli soldier's face at the Hewara checkpoint. The woman escaped the scene and the soldier was evacuated for treatment.

According to Palestinian estimates, Israel keeps a presence at more than 500 checkpoints, including movable and based ones, thus grossly hampering public life throughout the West Bank. International organizations and dignitaries have always considered these checkpoints as impediments to a proper civil life, calling on Israel to reconsider such a policy.

Israel has always argued that such 'movement restrictions' are necessary in order to preserve security to 'illegal Israeli settlements' that enclave the occupied West Bank.

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