Clashes erupted on Saturday morning between Palestinians and Israeli forces following the closure of the main entrance of Aboud village, northwest of Ramallah, according to Wafa Palestinian news agency.

Israeli occupation forces blocked the main entrance of the village with earth mounds and large cement blocks, triggering previous clashes with the villagers on Friday morning.

The Israeli army fired tear gas canisters and stun grenades at dozens of villagers and school students who protested the closure. No injuries were reported.

The closure reportedly came after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at an Israeli settler or police vehicle late Thursday along 465 Road connecting the illegal Israeli settlements near the village, causing damage but no reported injuries.

Following the incident, Israeli Special Forces raided the village using Israeli-registered civilian vehicles. However, no arrests were reported.

Villagers denounced the closure as a form of collective punishment against the community as a whole, as they are now forced to take another route through the nearby villages of Beit Rima and Nabi Saleh.

Israel built a separation wall – referred to as the "Apartheid Wall" or "Berlin Wall" by Palestinians – to control the western part of Ramallah governorate, which includes Israeli settlements constituting part of the Modi'in Illit, one of the major settlement blocs in the West Bank.

Meanwhile on Saturday, the European Union's new foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini appealed for the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying the world "cannot afford" another assault on Gaza.

Palestinians are seeking to achieve statehood in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with East Jerusalem as the capital.


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