Israel Matzav

'Day of rage' on Israel's highways, police admit they weren't just Paintball guns

There have been some sporadic attempts to block roads in Israel today in response to Monday's violent attack on Jewish residents of a Samaria outpost on Monday, but nowhere near the 'day of rage' reported here.

Settlers tried to block a main highway and burned tyres at the entrance to Jerusalem, launching a "Day of Rage" to protest police action during an outpost demolition, officials said.

"There were a number of attempts to block the Jerusalem road. Police quickly arrived and dispersed them," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.

In one incident, a handful of protesters tried to block the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway at a point halfway between the two cities, while others put burning tyres in the road at the entrance to Jerusalem, he said.

Settlers are holding a day of protests following clashes at the Havat Gilad outpost near Nablus which broke out early on Monday when police came to demolish a caravan, a tent and another half-built structure at the site.

There's more here.

Meanwhile, police have admitted that they weren't just playing Paintball on Monday.

Ending speculation as to what type of ammunition had been fired against settlers during the demolition of three structures at the Gilad Farm outpost earlier this week, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch told the Knesset on Wednesday that plastic bullets had been used.

He spoke at the Knesset plenum in response to questions posed on the incident by MK Yariv Levin (Likud).

Until Wednesday, police had insisted that paintballs had been used against those at Gilad Farm who had tried to prevent the demolitions early on Monday morning.

Settlers in turn had described three types of bullets, plastic-coated, rubber and plastic-coated- rubber-bullets, when speaking to the media.

On Wednesday, settlers also spoke of plastic bullets. It is the first time that such ammunition has been used against them.

At the Knesset, Aharonovitch explained that Border Police operating at Gilad Farm had used a type of weapon, known as FN303, which use air pressure to shoot out plastic bullets that break on impact. According to the Internet, the FN303 is a “less-lethal automatic launcher.”

In describing the bullet used, Aharonovitch cautioned that a routine investigation into the incident was still under way and as a result not all the details were known about the incident. He added that a report of the incident would be given to the police inspector-general.

The FN303 is a standard weapon used to disperse demonstrations, Aharonovitch said. Police have used it against demonstrators in Umm el-Fahm, Wadi Ara and other places, he said.

It is designed to protect security forces while at the same time insuring minimum harm to the rioters, he added.

Read the whole thing.

Labels: Gilad's Farm, Judea and Samaria construction, outposts

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:36 PM