Terrorist israeli forces clash with Palestinian protesters in West Bank

Terrorist Israeli forces have clashed with Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Terrorist Israeli forces fired tear gas to disperse the Palestinian protesters dressed as Santa Claus in the city on Tuesday.

The protesters were marching towards a checkpoint connecting the ancient city to al-Quds (Jerusalem).

The Palestinian demonstrators carried signs reading, “Jesus came with a message of: Peace, Freedom and Justice” and “We want Christmas without occupation.”

The protesters also expressed their anger at Israel’s acts of aggression.

The demonstration had a peaceful message but “Israeli soldiers did not miss the chance to suppress it by assaulting journalists and peaceful demonstrators,” Palestine Ma’an news agency quoted Mazen al-Azza, an activist with the Palestinian National Initiative, as saying.

Tensions have been running high for over a month in the West Bank and East al-Quds over the desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli troops and the recent killing of a Palestinian minister in the occupied West Bank.

The al-Aqsa compound, which lies in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds, is a flashpoint. The location of the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism. The al-Aqsa mosque is Islam’s third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.