Following the attack by Hamas in Jerusalem yesterday morning, Sharon has made a decision to continuously “seize” Palestinian territory. The Israeli army invaded the cities of Jenin, Qalqilya, Nablus and Hebron overnight. This is an official affirmation of the Israeli policy to fully reoccupy the West Bank.
Israeli soldiers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are acting in an increasingly malevolent manner; the rules of engagement, and in particular the open-fire regulations, appear to have become even more permissive than previously.
Yesterday and today three Palestinians suffered from the brutal behaviour of Israeli soldiers demonstrating how vulnerable the Palestinian civilian population is at this point:
This morning a Palestinian man was shot by Israeli soldiers in the Al-Tire neighbourhood of Ramallah. Eyewitnesses report that at about 7.30 a.m. Israeli soldiers opened fire from the by-pass road leading from Beit El to ‘Ein Qiniya and shot indiscriminately towards a group of Palestinian construction workers across the valley. One of the workers was shot in the face.
Yesterday at the Surda roadblock on the main Birzeit-Ramallah Road eyewitnesses say that Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian man in his leg. The soldiers checked the man’s ID and as they called him back to retrieve his ID, the soldiers shot him in the leg.
In another incident yesterday ‘Awda Ya’aqoub ‘Awda AbdAllah, 54 years old, died at Surda when the ambulance carrying him was prevented from passing the roadblock. ‘Awda had suffered a heart attack in his home in Bir Zeit and medical personnel decided to transfer him to Ramallah for treatment as the ambulance from Bir Zeit was not sufficiently equipped to treat him. At Surda the Israeli soldiers stopped the ambulance and denied it permission to continue to Ramallah. Awda’s son tried to support his father as they attempted to cross the checkpoint by foot but again soldiers prevented him from doing so. In the end, ‘Awda was placed on a wheeled cart and his daughter pushed him over the checkpoint where he was placed in taxi to bring him to hospital in Ramallah. ‘Awda’s daughter said the soldiers were laughing as she was pushing her dying father across the checkpoint.
