Ramallah, May 18 (IANS): Several Palestinians were injured during clashes with Israeli soldiers on the outskirts of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

Palestinian security sources told Xinhua on Wednesday that the clashes broke out between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers who closed main roads in the city to escort dozens of Israeli settlers to Joseph's Tomb, a holy flashpoint site in Nablus.

Dozens of stone-hurling protesters clashed with Israeli soldiers who fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse them. Later Palestinian gunmen and Israeli soldiers traded fire near the tomb, Palestinian eyewitnesses said.

A Palestinian shot in the back with live ammunition was critically injured, seven others were injured by rubber bullets, and 80 suffered suffocation after inhaling teargas fired by Israeli soldiers, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement.

An Israeli Army spokesman confirmed in a press statement that the Israeli Army and security forces ensured the arrival of the Israeli worshippers to Joseph's Tomb, adding that Palestinian gunmen opened fire at the forces, Xinhua news agency reported.

The armed wing of the Fatah Movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement that its militants targeted an Israeli Army force by gunfire near the tomb.