23 February 2010 / AP, HEBRON
A crowd of Palestinian youths pelted Israeli soldiers with stones and empty bottles on Monday, drawing tear gas and stun grenades in the most serious violence in this volatile West Bank city in months.
The clashes erupted a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enraged some Palestinian residents by adding a disputed Hebron shrine to Israel’s list of national heritage sites. The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank as part of a future state, and saw the Israeli move -- a largely declarative step with few practical consequences -- as a provocation. Hebron merchants shuttered their stores to protest the decision, and some 100 youths burned tires and threw stones and bottles at Israeli forces in the city. The Israeli military said one soldier was lightly wounded, while Palestinians said three protesters suffered from tear gas inhalation. Hebron is one of the most volatile cities in the West Bank. Several hundred ultranationalist Jewish settlers live in heavily guarded enclaves in the midst of some 170,000 Palestinians.
