A few hundred Israeli settlers were yesterday marching through the northern West Bank to protest against Palestinian plans to seek full membership of the United Nations.
One group of several dozen people marched from Beit El settlement near the city of Ramallah towards a military base, waving Israeli flags and singing, while around 150 people joined a march from the Itamar settlement to a nearby military outpost south of Nablus, AFP correspondents said.
The Itamar marchers were escorted by a heavy military presence.
“This is our land, and there will never be a Palestinian state on the homeland of the Jewish people,” said Michael Ben Ari, the ultra-nationalist member of Parliament who led the Beit El march.
Earlier yesterday, a group of about 100 settlers entered the Palestinian village of Asira al-Qibiliya near Nablus and began attacking residents, witnesses said.
An AFP correspondent said stones were being thrown by both sides and that some of the settlers were armed and had fired their weapons.
Shortly afterwards, Israeli troops and border police arrived and fired rubber bullets and tear gas to try and control the situation, the correspondent said, adding that several villagers were injured, including a Palestinian journalist who was beaten by settlers.
He also said a 14-year-old boy was taken to hospital after being hit by a tear-gas canister, with the account corroborated by a watchdog group which is monitoring settler attacks as part of a new campaign called “Eyes of Resistance”.
The marches came as the Palestinians prepare to formally ask the United Nations on Friday to admit a Palestinian state as a member of the world body.
The move is fiercely opposed by Israel, and particularly by the settler movement which has vowed to stop a Palestinian state becoming a reality on the ground.
Earlier this month, right-wing parliamentarians and radical settler activists met to mull a plan of action for September, promising to stage mass demonstrations and rallies against the Palestinian bid.
None have so far materialised.