Israeli troops invade village near Jenin, break into homes and vandalise property

Friday July 16, 2010 15:03 by George Rishmawi - IMEMC & Agencies

An Israeli occupation soldiers force consists of at least 20 armored vehicles invaded the village of Barta'a near Jenin in the northern West Bank and break into residents homes in the early hours of Friday morning.

Palestinian sources said that troops stayed for four hours in the village during which they fired live ammunition. The Ma'an News Agency reported Tawfiq Qabaha, a member of the village council as saying that troops encircled the town at 1 am, blocking entrances and entering the extended family homes of two residents before ransacking their contents during a search.

As the troops entered the village, Qabaha said, young men threw stones and were greeted with live fire, causing no injuries.

Troops broke into the building of 57-year-old Sa’eed Ahmad Qabaha, forcing the entire extended family who live in the building out, as soldiers thoroughly searched the house leaving behind a serious damage to the property. According to Qabaha the soldiers used search as a pretext to vandalize the property.

A similar event was reported in the home of 35-year-old Mohammad Tawfiq Qabaha, who said his family's belongings were ransacked.

Soldiers Kidnap Nine Palestinians, Including Two Women In Nablus

Thursday July 15, 2010 10:55 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Israeli occupation soldiers conducted an arrest campaign targeting leaders and members of the leftists Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and kidnapped nine residents, including two women, in Beit Forik Village, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Myassar Etyani, a Palestinian woman active in detainees’ affairs, stated that the soldiers invaded the village around 2 a.m. and broke into several homes.

The soldiers broke into the home of Abu Ghlamay and kidnapped Ayman Abu Ghalamy who was released from an Israeli detention camp a month ago after spending 4.5 years in Israeli prisons. Soldiers also confiscated the I.D. card of his father.

The soldiers also kidnapped Laith Mofeed Abu Ghalamy in addition to former female detainees Linan Yousef Abu Ghalamy and her sister Taghreed.

Etyani added that the army also kidnapped Sajed Abdul-Latif Mleitat, his brother Mos’ab, Hani Abu Al Saoud, and Hamada Hanani. Soldiers confiscated laptops and mobile phones.

Etyani said that Linan was released from an Israeli detention facility on October of 2009 as part of an agreement that was meant to reach a prisoner-swap deal that would ensure the release of prisoner-of-war, Gilad Shalit.

Linan is the widow of Amjad Mleitat who was assassinated by Israel in 2004. He was a senior member of the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigade, the armed wing of the PFLP.

Linan and Taghreed are the sisters of Ahed Abu Ghalamy who is serving life-term in Israeli prisons, while Ayman and Laith are his nephews.

'No comment' on arbitrary treatment

Published today (updated) 16/07/2010 15:27

Qalqiliya – Ma'an –

A father of five from Azzun Atma village in the northern West Bank was told by Israeli occupation soldiers manning the single civilian crossing into the area that on Tuesday, 50kgs of flour was too much and he could not bring it home.

Hassan Mahmoud Qadus was also told to leave two kilograms of meat, purchased for his family, at the checkpoint to rot. The quantity of meat, a soldier told him, was above what was permitted for personal consumption.

"There are such regulations in place," a representative for the Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories told Ma'an on Wednesday, explaining that if residents of the Qalqiliya-area village want to bring goods into their village to sell, they must get a permit, bring them in via a crossing linking the village with Israel, and pay taxes on the goods.

Azzun Atma, with a population of 1,670, is trapped on the west side of Israel's separation wall, but residents are prohibited from accessing Israel. Road barriers were constructed to the south of the village, and the illegal Israeli settlements to the east - Sha'are Tiqwa - and to the west - Oranit - constructed perimeter fences blocking movement from all access points except the Azzun Atma checkpoint pierced into the separation wall to the north of the village.

"You will have to ask the army," the COGAT representative told Ma'an, when asked about the decision to prevent Qadus from bringing home the quantities of flour and meat.

When distributing aid to Palestinian refugees, who make up 4% of the residents in Azzun Atma, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East distributes 50-kilogram bags of flour, five kilograms of rice, five kilograms of sugar, two liters of cooking oil, one kilogram of powdered milk and five kilograms of lentils. The quantities are distributed to families every three months for personal consumption.

An Israeli military source explained that the decision to deny Qadus permission to bring in the food "could have been the independent decision of a soldier based on the situation," but directed the question to the military's Central Command.

On Thursday, a second source said the matter was "more complicated" than it appeared, and came back with "no comment" on the situation of Qadus.

Asked if the military could provide the guidelines set out for villagers delineating amounts of goods for personal consumption versus for commercial use, the military took 24-hours to return with an official statement of "no comment."

Speaking with Ma'an's reporter in the village, residents of Azzun Attma appealed for international intervention, asking that they be permitted to move freely in and out of their village and to transport food supplies from the city of Qalqiliya and neighboring towns back to their homes without harassment.