This article was originally published by the IMEMC and is republished with permission.

During this Friday's weekly demo against the seperation wall in Bil'in, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, soldiers shot two children at a range of less than 10 metres with rubber coated steel bullets. One was hit in the upper leg and the other in the lower back. Both were hospitalized, along with two Palestinian adults, also shot at close range. According to eyewitnesses, one child had appeared to say something to one of the soldiers before walking away. As he was walking away, the soldier shot him in the leg.

After midday prayers, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) held a rally to celebrate their 38th anniversary, with music and speeches, lasting around an hour. Speakers included Palestinian Legislative Council member Walid Assas, and head of the DFLP committee against the Wall, Amna Arrimawi, along with Sayed Abu Saleh from the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF).

A large crowd of around 600 protesters then marched to the gate in the Wall, where their path was blocked by the occupying Israeli military, standing in front of the gate. Political and anti-occupation slogans were chanted, and some protesters climbed on the gate. Isolated incidents of stone-throwing were met with large amounts of tear gas, sound grenades and the shooting of protesters not throwing stones.

As well as the four protesters shot with rubber bullets, 15 others were also injured.