Jerusalem, August 05: Israeli soldiers have invaded Palestinian homes and captured as many as 20 people from different areas of the occupied West Bank over the past 24 hours.
In the August 4 pre-dawn raid, five Palestinians were taken from the area of Qalqilya, four from the Bethlehem area, two men from the Hebron (al-Khalil) area, and another two from around Jericho (Ariha).
Meanwhile, the previous day, in the village of Bil’in, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, Israeli soldiers kidnapped seven Palestinian civilians and one US peace activist.
Local sources reported that some 200 soldiers with war paint on their faces and masks entered the village on foot from several points. A total of five homes were attacked and searched by the soldiers, they said.
Troops threw percussion bombs to disperse the villagers who were coming into the streets throwing rocks at the invading forces. The operation ended around seven in the morning. All those kidnapped were taken to a military detention camp.
Over the past four years, the village of Bil’in has been the scene of weekly nonviolent resistance against Israel’s illegal wall built on the villagers’ land. The villagers won a court decision that the wall should be demolished, but the military refuses to comply with the court orders.
—-Agencies