In the West Bank, the IDF raids, searches shops in Tulkarm; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Qabatya, and nr. Hebron, Jenin. Armed Jewish settlers fr. Gilad settlement nr. Qalqilya attack 2 Palestinian farmers, severely beat them, and spray a chemical substance on their faces and bodies, then burn 2 d. of nearby Palestinian olive groves; when local Palestinians arrive to put out the fire, they are fired upon by the settlers (who use live ammunition) and the IDF (using rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades). Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba attack Palestinian homes, attempt to break into at least 1 home in the same area where settlers seized a plot of land on 7/17. (OCHA 7/23; PCHR 7/24)
Monday, July 21, 2008