DISPATCH FROM THE WEST BANK
Palestinian stone-throwers met with a bullet to leg from Israeli forces
West Bank protesters face live fire, report Catherine Philp and Jack Hill in Ramallah
In the space of half an hour, we witnessed five protesters being shot, all with a single bullet to the leg or buttock
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JACK HILL
As the stone sailed through the black smoke of burning tyres, a sudden crack split the air. The young man clutched his leg and fell to the ground; an ambulance crew turned on their sirens and sped towards him, the crowd scattering at the sound of live fire.
This was the scene at the checkpoint leading out of Ramallah towards the nearest Jewish settlement, Beit El, as the Palestinian territories seethe over the mounting civilian death toll not just in Gaza but in the occupied West Bank.
More than 80 Palestinians have been killed by armed settlers and Israeli security forces since Hamas attacked Israeli communities along the Gaza border, killing 1,400 people and seizing more than 200 hostages.
Instead of the expected tear gas, there were live bullets, fired by Israel defence forces snipers at protesters who threw stones
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JACK HILL
Palestinian youths, both men and women,
