LOC16:13
13:13 GMT
RAMALLAH, Jan 6 (KUNA) -- 11 students were injured on Tuesday during an Israeli occupation forces raid on Birzeit University in the West Bank, reported the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
In a press statement, the ministry explained that three students sustained gunshot wounds, three were injured by shrapnel, and five suffered from tear gas inhalation.
Israeli occupation forces stormed the university campus during classes and while student groups were holding an event in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, the forces fired live ammunition, rubber-coated bullets, and tear gas canisters at the students.
After the occupation forces withdrew from the university, its president, Talal Shahwan, held a press conference explaining that 20 vehicles stormed the university by breaking down the gate, and that Israeli occupation forces fired live ammunition at the students.
Shahwan emphasized that the attack was part of the systematic targeting of Palestinians.
He stated that following the withdrawal of the occupation forces, the university resumed classes and administrative operations, continuing to fulfill their academic, social, and humanitarian mission.
Shahwan affirmed that these actions contravene the most basic principles of international humanitarian law and human rights, endangering the lives of students and staff, adding that academic freedom is protected worldwide. (end)
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