Dozens of Palestinian Authority residents demonstrated on Thursday at the Bitunya Crossing, northwest of Jerusalem, as a sign of solidarity with PA prisoners at the nearby Ofer Prison Camp.
The protesters blocked the entrance to the crossing and disrupted its activities. They refused orders by security forces to disperse and even tried to penetrate the crossing area. The troops were forced to use riot-control measures against the rioters, some of whom even tried to sabotage the security fence. A 20-year-old resident of the Samarian PA city of Shechem was arrested for trying to harm a soldier and disobeying an order to disperse .