The number of detainees from the town of Azzun to the east of the northern West Bank city of Qalqiliya rises rapidly as the fierce Israeli arrest campaign against the town escalates turning the lives of Palestinian citizens into a real hell.
Detainee number 146 was the latest to be detained from the town in Israeli prisons as of 9 August 2017 a number that could increase around the clock due to the intensity of the campaign against the town.
Some 10000 residents from Azzun live in hardship amidst daily tension and confrontations with the Israeli soldiers and settlers.
Salah Shbeita an Azzun resident told the PIC reporter that the Israeli campaigns target all houses and became a daily event and part of the nightlife of the town of Azzun.
Siege in various forms
He added “For weeks the occupation authorities have imposed what looks like an unannounced siege by erecting barriers on an ongoing basis and preventing access to the town except through certain checkpoints as well as the ongoing closure of the entrances of the town.”
In recent months the name of the town of Azzun has been repeatedly mentioned in the Hebrew media as the Israeli incitement against the town increased accusing the town of being ‘home for terrorists’ who constantly attack Israeli settlers and the occupation’s patrols in the vicinity of the town.
The Israeli occupation army declared a series of punitive measures against the residents of the town and imposed a cordon around them for weeks at the pretext of causing damage to the buses and vehicles of Israeli settlers on roads surrounding the town.
The Israeli army recently distributed several statements in the town’s streets and on houses threatening citizens. The town is a launch pad for attacks against the Israeli forces and the army is carrying out measures to pursue and check these attacks the statement read.
The statements included warnings against citizens of penal measures by the occupation army a method used in towns that are subject to collective punishment due to the continued stone throwing against the occupation soldiers.
Multiple suffering
Ahmed Radwan another resident of the twon mentions a series of recent Israeli violations including storming all houses in the town raiding and confiscating all lathes and blacksmith workshops causing heavy economic losses and imposing restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in a continuous manner.
He added to the PIC reporter “This was followed by a big arrest campaign which mainly focused on boys and teenagers” pointing out that by examining the indictment lists against detainees the vast majority of them were accused of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails on settlers’ vehicles.
The Israeli settlers in the area consider the people of Azzun as rioters while they forget that the people of Azzun are indigenous residents who have been living there for thousands of years and that the Israeli settlement project began in 1978 in the vicinity of Azzun.
Three Jewish-only settlements were built on the confiscated lands of Azzun: Ma’ale Shomron founded in 1980 over an area of 1903 dunums and Ganat Shamron founded in 1985 over an area of 484 dunums and Karni Shamron which was founded in 1978 over an area of 7339 dunums.
