Members of the Palestinian security forces scuffle with demonstrators in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, during a protest against a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz that had been put off. (Mohamad Torckman – Reuters)
Palestinian Authority police employed brute force to break up a second day of protesting in Ramallah on Sunday, with activists and eyewitnesses claiming police assaulted both male and female protesters with batons and chains, the Jerusalem Post reported.
At least seven people were injured in the clashes, according to Ma’an News Agency – an independent media group based in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Police also arrested seven protesters in Ramallah and two journalists, and attacked Reuters’ photographer Saed al-Hawari.
Demonstrations first erupted in Ramallah on Saturday over the announcement of a planned meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz, the current chairman of Israel’s centrist Kadima Party.
The meet-up – which would be the first official face-to-face meeting between top-level Israeli and Palestinian officials since 2010 – has since been postponed, according to the Associated Press.
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