0
Thursday 31 January 2013 - 06:48

Large Israeli force raids Jenin village, locals say

Story Code : 236146
Large Israeli force raids Jenin village, locals say
Over 400 Israeli soldiers raided al-Mughayyir village overnight and conducted a house-to-house search of over fifty homes, interrogating residents, locals said.
 
"At 2 a.m., Israeli solders knocked on my door. I went out in a hurry to see who is knocking on my door at this time and was shocked when I saw Israeli solders pointing their guns at me, and asking me and my family to get out of the home. My wife, my four kids, and I stood outside in the rainy weather," Amjad Muhassin said.
 
Soldiers made the family wait outside for over 30 minutes before gathering them in the living room and interrogating each family member, including children, he added.
 
Ahmad Sawafta, head of the village council, said that soldiers asked residents to stand outside their homes carrying a piece of paper with their ID number.
 
The villagers were then photographed with their ID numbers while soldiers searched their homes, Sawafta said, adding that this is the first raid of its kind in over 20 years.
 
A 10-years-old girl, Nirmin, told Ma'an that six Israeli soldiers raided her home, ordering her mother and father to leave the home.
 
"My brothers and sisters were crying. I slept under the blanket (I hide myself under the blanket). I was so scared that the Israeli soldiers would shoot my father and my mother," she said.
 
No arrests were reported by villagers.
 
An Israeli army spokesman did not return calls seeking comment.
 
Israeli military forces routinely raid villages in the occupied West Bank and make arrests, usually on the pretext of security questioning, without providing further details.
Comment