West Bank & Jerusalem
Israeli forces seize Qalandiya homes as residents fear wider expulsion
Graphic: Times of Palestine
Original Reporting
Israeli forces stormed Qalandiya refugee camp near Jerusalem at around two in the morning Wednesday and stayed more than fifteen hours, raiding houses, making arrests and converting residential buildings into military posts and interrogation centers, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
Residents told the paper the fear running through the camp is of the scenario already visited on Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams, whose camps Israeli operations emptied in the north of the occupied West Bank.
There is no justification for what is happening here, said Mohammed Sa'id of the camp's popular committee, noting months of relative quiet. He said homes were chosen by location and turned into army positions, and that residents refuse to become fuel for Israel's election campaign.
Dr. Radi Yaqoub, a committee activist, described an unprecedented military presence among the camp's roughly 19,000 residents, with beatings and damage to property, though he said demolitions have so far centered on buildings along the Atarot road rather than the wide razing seen in Jenin.
Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the army to prepare to occupy another refugee camp. The Palestinian Authority's Jerusalem governorate warned that the Qalandiya and Kufr Aqab operations copy the model of the northern camps, with snipers, checkpoints and movement restrictions beyond anything Israel calls security measures.
