Two Palestinians shot by Israeli occupation forces in Al-Fara'a Refugee Camp

Date: 25 / 10 / 2008  Time:  10:13
Nablus – Ma’an –

Two young Palestinian men have been shot and injured by Israeli occupation forces that invaded Al-Fara’a refugee camp north of the West Bank city Nablus on Saturday morning.

Eyewitnesses told Ma’an that seven Israeli military vehicles stormed the camp at 1:30am and opened fire at a group of youth in the center of the camp.

Palestinian Red Crescent medics said that they evacuated 17-year-old Imad Tayih who was shot in the thigh, and 23-year-old Thabit Raja who received a gunshot to the foot. Their wounds were described to be “moderate.”

Local sources in the camp reported Israeli forces withdrew at 4:00am. No arrests have been reported.

Israeli occupation forces have been targeting the camp over the past few days attempting to assassinate or seize an activist affiliated with the Islamic Jihad’s military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades. With this stated goal, the Israeli army has ransacked and searched dozens of homes in the camp.

Israeli occupation forces raid town of Azzoun near Qalqilia

Date: 25 / 10 / 2008  Time:  10:12
Qalqilia – Ma’an –

Israeli occupation forces on Friday evening raided the northern West Bank town of Azzoun, east of Qalqilia, imposing a curfew, eyewitnesses told Ma’an.

Forces blocked the western entrance to the town, called Al-Izba. Last week, the northern entrance was blocked by Israeli occupation forces. Witnesses confirmed that they saw infantry troops deployed around the town.

Israeli occupation forces turn Palestinian house into military post

Date: 25 / 10 / 2008  Time:  10:37
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

A Palestinian man, 47-year-old Bassam Za’ul from the southern West Bank village of Husan was awoken at 3:30 am on Saturday when more than a dozen Israeli occupation military vehicles stormed his house.

Za’ul says Israeli occupation soldiers then told him and his family to leave within five minutes; they told him that “the home is now under army control.”

Za’ul told Ma’an that Israeli occupation soldiers treated his family harshly and beat his sons, 22-year-old Basil and 21-year-old Ahmad when they refused to leave the house. “We were forced to leave at gunpoint,” he said.

“My family consists of eight, including a 4-month-old baby girl, and all of the sudden we found ourselves in the street, shivering,” Za’ul said.

Neighbors told Ma’an via telephone that Israeli occupation soldiers had turned the house into a military base and watchtower. They erected a fence around the house and raised Israeli flags on the roof. Soldiers removed windows and replaced them with sandbags.

The apartment is at the third floor of a three-storey building. Za’ul’s brother lives in the ground floor, and the soldiers restricted his movement.

Za’ul insisted that he was not given a warrant before the evacuation was ordered, although his apartment had been ransacked five times over the past week, the last of which was on Friday evening when Israeli infantry troops filmed the house inside and out.

The house is strategically located on a bypass road, leading to an illegal Israeli settlement, Betar Ellite. Located near Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque, Israeli forces long ago erected a security fence to protect Israeli vehicles from stones tossed by Palestinian youth.

Za’ul emphatically denied that youth had ever thrown stones from his own house, though.