According to both Palestinian and Israeli sources, a several Palestinians were injured on Wednesday as a result of clashes with Israeli military personnel in the outskirts of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
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According to Palestinian security sources, confrontations erupted between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli military personnel who shut down primary routes within the city in order to safeguard a group of Israeli settlers traveling to the revered site of Joseph's Tomb, located in the area of Nablus.
Numerous demonstrators engaged in the throwing of stones while entangled in conflict with Israeli military personnel, who fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse them. According to Palestinian eyewitnesses, there was subsequent exchange of gunfire between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli soldiers in proximity to the tomb.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has issued a statement reporting that one individual of Palestinian origin sustained critical injuries from a gunshot wound in the back, while seven others were wounded by rubber bullets, and 80 people suffered from respiratory distress due to the inhalation of teargas that was fired by Israeli soldiers.
During a press statement, an Israeli military representative confirmed that the Israeli armed forces, along with security forces, facilitated the arrival of Israeli worshipers at Joseph's Tomb.
Additionally, the representative noted that that Palestinian gunmen opened fire at the forces.
The armed wing of the Fatah Movement, headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, announced in a formal declaration that its combatants aimed and fired at an Israeli armed unit near the tomb.