With the break of dawn, Friday fell upon the West Bank with the rumble of military vehicles and clashes as an Israeli army carried out massive operations in different areas, injuring a number of Palestinians and detaining others.
Pre-dawn, the rumble of a military bulldozer entering Askar al-Jadeed refugee camp east of Nablus awoke its residents. “We heard the vehicles first, then the shots rang out,” said Ahmed, a local shopkeeper, who witnessed the incursion. The situation quickly escalated with live ammunition, tear gas, and concussion grenades being fired by the Israeli military throughout the camp.
One of the casualties included a young man, barely 20 years old, with a gunshot wound to the hand from the operation. Injured civilians were very hard to reach for medical personnel, according to the description provided by a paramedic with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, Ibrahim Tamimi: “They had blocked all entrances to the camp. We couldn’t reach many areas where people needed help.”
When a resident’s car was struck by the military bulldozer and caught fire, the scenario took a more dramatic turn. Israeli troops kept local firemen from getting close to the flaming car, so they watched helplessly.
Families were jolted awake when soldiers passed through residential areas in the city of Nablus proper. The operation had a particularly negative effect on the Mar’i family, since their home was searched and three of their sons, Muhammad, Ahmad, and Mahdi, were taken into jail.
“They came in without warning,” shared a neighbor who asked to remain anonymous. “We could hear them going house to house, questioning people.”
The night’s operations extended to the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, where residents reported soldiers searching at least one home, though no arrests were made in that location.
Two Palestinians Were Shot
Similar events took place at the Al-Jalazoun refugee camp north of Ramallah in the central West Bank, farther south. During an early-morning raid, two young guys were shot and wounded. Their medical problems were not immediately revealed, but medical professionals hurried them to neighboring hospitals for treatment.
In a separate incident in Al-Biereh, east of Ramallah, Mrs. Karama Barghouti was taken into custody after soldiers entered her home and questioned family members. Her daughter, speaking briefly to reporters, described the frightening experience: “They surrounded our house before dawn. – “We did not know the reason for their targeting us.”
Operations very much ensure the take-off of yet another day into the continuing state of high tension across the entire West Bank with ever-increasing, presumably same-day, pre-dawn incursions. Human rights organizations have continued to show concern over the accumulation of civilian casualties and appalling incarcerations.
Local community leaders accentuate the heavy toll taken by these operations on daily life. “People are fearful of sleeping, not knowing if their home will be next,” noted one community representative from Al-Jalazoun. “The psychological impact especially in children is devastating.”
As Friday drew to a close, the affected communities began their familiar activities of damage assessment and condoling with affected families, while health workers continued admissions for treating the injured. The Israeli army did not specify objectives around the current operations.
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