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Outside Nilin, West Bank: Israeli soldiers fired teargas and stun grenades on Monday to stifle protests against West Bank wall, declared illegal by the World Court four years ago this week.
The army kept a curfew on the Palestinian town of Nilin for the fourth day, using force to keep a small group of protesters and journalists from approaching the cordoned-off town of 5,000 from an overlooking hilltop.
Ayman Nafi, the town's mayor, said vegetables, dairy products and some medicines were in short supply and the local pharmacy had not been allowed to open.
"They want to send a message: resisting the construction of the wall will inflect suffering and damage upon you," Nafi said by telephone. "Their policy will increase our determination to prevent them from erecting this racist wall."
Curfew
The army imposed a curfew on Nilin, near Ramallah, on Friday after violence erupted during protests at a wall construction site.
An army spokesman said eight security personnel and two workers were hurt in protests in the area over the past month.
Mohammad Khawaja, a bank worker, said by telephone from Nilin that soldiers had arrested people who ventured outside.
"When soldiers came to search my house early this morning, I asked one of them, 'What are you doing to Nilin'," Khawaja said.
"The soldier replied, 'No matter what, the wall will be erected at the end of the day'. I asked him, 'Why do you take our land? Take land from the [colonies]'."
On July 9, 2004, the World Court in The Hague ruled that Israel's construction of the 720km wall on occupied land was illegal. The United Nations says Israel has ignored that ruling.
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