9 Palestinians injured as Israeli troops raid West Bank refugee camp

At least nine Palestinians have reportedly sustained gunshot wounds during clashes with Israeli military forces in the central part of the occupied West Bank.

Local sources, requesting not to be named, said Israeli soldiers stormed the Dheisheh refugee camp, located just south of Bethlehem, early on Tuesday, prompting skirmishes with the residents of the camp, Arabic-language Quds Net news agency reported.

Israeli troopers reportedly indiscriminately fired live bullets and hurled tear gas canisters as well as stun grenades to disperse the crowd. Nine young Palestinian men were injured during the imbroglio. Israeli soldiers also arrested 13 Palestinians following the scuffles.

Israeli military forces also raided the family house of Nidal Abu Akar, a known member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and a freelance journalist, in the camp and arrested him.

Nidal had spent 11 years in Israeli administrative detention, which is a policy under which Palestinian inmates are kept in jail without trial or charge.

There are reportedly more than 6,500 Palestinians held at Israeli jails. Hundreds of the inmates have apparently been incarcerated under the practice of administrative detention.