Further Attacks and Abductions in West Bank by Israeli Army

IMEMC – Israeli violations against the Palestinian people and their property continued throughout the day, on Monday May 12, 2014, with attacks and abductions occurring in various regions of the West Bank, including Qalqilia, Jenin and Bethlehem.

Sixteen people were kidnapped by Israeli forces in the West Bank, today, most of them from the district of Qalqilia. Another was summoned for interrogation, according to reports by local and security sources.

The army invaded the village of Kafr Qaddum, abducting 14 people, most in their twenties of age, after raiding their homes, Palestinian News & Info Agency WAFA has reported.

In Bethlehem, the Israeli army kidnapped one 30-year-old man after storming and searching his home in Deheishe refugee camp, where they fired stun grenades in the streets. No further arrests were reported, however a gas canister, fired early Monday by Israeli forces, set a vehicle on fire in the camp, according to a security source.

In the meantime, Israeli soldiers raided the village of al-Me’sara, south of Bethlehem, invading and searching the home of Hassan Burejeyeh, coordinator of the anti-settlement committee. A 20-year-old, in the nearby village of Marah Rabah, was served with a summons to appear for investigation at Gush Etzion.

In al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, Israeli forces fired a tear gas canister toward a local school, according to an activist.

Ahmad Salah, coordinator of the anti-settlement committee in the village, said that soldiers fired a tear gas canister toward one of the school’s windows, injuring a 14-year-old student who received first aid at the scene, WAFA went on to say.

Israeli violations have been rapidly increasing since Israeli soldiers stormed the same school, where they arrested two students, last Sunday.

Also on Monday, Israel declared Zababdeh, to the south of Jenin, a closed military area.

Security sources said that soldiers stormed the town, setting up several military checkpoints before declaring it a closed military zone, upon which they conducted a large-scale search operation, inspecting vehicles and examining ID cards.

In the village of Nabi Samwil, to the northwest of Jerusalem, residents are suffering from a lack of food and cooking gas due to Israel’s denial of entry, according to a local activist Eid Barakat, who said that Israeli forces tightened their blockade on the village and set up a military checkpoint at its entrance.

He added that Israeli forces have prevented the entry of food items and cooking gas into the village for weeks, now, according to the WAFA report, in addition to obstructing the movement of villagers in and out of the village, where residents are being forced to leave due to the harsh conditions of land seizure for settlement construction, which has displaced them from the community.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in direct contravention of international law and with full complicity of Western governments, in the form of billions in foreign aid and weapons, each and every year.

Posted by Philip Giraldi on May 13 2014 . Filed under News from the Middle East . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 . Both comments and pings are currently closed.