Sunday, July 6, 2008

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on Palestinian farmers, preventing them fr. reaching their fields nr. the border fence but causing no injuries. In the West Bank, Ni‘lin villagers defy an IDF curfew to stage peaceful protest marches against the IDF blockade imposed on 7/5; the IDF fires tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets at the protesters, lightly injuring around 50. The IDF also bulldozes newly paved roads in Ni‘lin while the curfew is in place, damaging part of the municipal sewage system; conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Tulkarm, and nr. Bethlehem, Jenin, Qalqilya, Ramallah. Jewish settlers fr. Asfar settlement nr. Bethlehem beat 2 Palestinian shepherds grazing their flocks nearby. In Hebron, local Jewish settlers harass a French diplomatic delegation touring the city with Palestinian guides, arguing that settlers should lead the tour because the delegation was on “Israeli land.” A carload of Jewish settlers fires on a Palestinian taxi nr. Jenin, seriously wounding 1 Palestinian. (WT 7/7; OCHA 7/9; PCHR 7/10)