Soldiers started firing rubber-coated steel bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades, causing many to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation.
Morad Eshteiwi, the coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Annexation Wall and Colonies in Kufur Qaddoum, said the Palestinians and international peace activists marched from the local park, and headed to the nearby closed main road.
He added that the soldiers started firing rubber-coated steel bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades, causing many to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation.
Eshteiwi also stated that the Palestinians in Kufur Qaddoum will continue their protests despite the excessive use of force by the army, and that they insist on their legitimate demand to have the main entrance of their village reopened.
It is worth mentioning that the army closed the main road more than fifteen years ago, to enable easy access to colonialist settlers, driving to and from the illegal Kedumim colony, which was built on private Palestinian lands.
Friday's procession, which was violently attacked by the soldiers, included various peaceful activities, such as recreational activities for children provided by the Psychological Department of the Palestinian Education Ministry in Qalqilia.
Kufur Qaddoum witnesses frequent Israeli military invasion, including the violent searches of homes and property, in addition to the abduction and imprisonment of many of its residents, especially young men and teenagers.
[Link] 'Israeli Troops Use Rubber Bullets Against IDF Regulations'
However, Haaretz has learned that soldiers sometimes separate the rubber-coated bullets, which come in packs of three, and insert them separately into the adapter on the rifle muzzle to achieve a more harmful effect — even though the army forbids this. Military police are investigating this angle of the incident, which has gained international attention since private security cameras showed Nadeem Nuwara and Mohammed Salameh, who had been throwing rocks at soldiers during a protest, getting shot to death while they were doing nothing but walking along a road.
The rules of engagement allow firing rubber-coated metal bullets from no closer than a few dozen meters, and only by those who have been especially trained for it, in order to prevent a fatal shot. However, according to the B’tselem human rights NGO, from the start of the second intifada in September 2000 to the beginning of this year, 21 Palestinians were killed after being shot with rubber-coated metal bullets.
So seems to me that, the rules of "engagement" are very different from the rule of engagement in 2019 in the use of so called "non Lethal Weapons"
We see them also being used with devastating consequences not just in Palestine, but also in France, they should be banned world wide.
But then again armaments, are big business, call it offensive or defensive, everyone makes a killing.