Paralyzing Israeli siege hardens villagers

The Palestinians under a paralyzing Israeli siege in a village north of the West Bank say they are undeterred and will stay true to the Palestinian cause of resisting the occupation.

Saturday marked the ninth day Qabatiya was experiencing the blockade, forced upon it by Israeli troops.

The siege came after the Israeli military claimed that three men from the village had attacked Israeli security forces outside the Old City of al-Quds (Jerusalem) a day earlier, killing an officer and injuring another before being shot dead.

“Here we have resisted every occupation,” Mayor Mahmoud Kamel told AFP, describing the uncompromising attitude vis-à-vis Tel Aviv’s suppressive push.

The blockade is to hold for an undisclosed period of time, during which the 25,000-strong Palestinians are prevented from working elsewhere across the occupied territories.

“Nobody told us if this was temporary or whether our permits are cancelled altogether,” said Mohammed Nazzal, who is the breadwinner of an eight-member family.

The chamber of commerce in Jenin, the nearest large town, says the siege affects at least 300 businessmen and traders, 200 farmers, and 500 other workers.

Israeli forces, meanwhile, plan to demolish a residence that they say belongs to one of the participants in the alleged attack.

The unflinching mother of the household reacted to the prospect by saying, “The more they destroy, the more we shall rebuild... All the neighbors and all the villagers are in solidarity with us.”

The occupied Palestinian territories have been the scene of heightened tensions since the Israeli imposition in August 2015 of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam.

The restrictions have enraged Palestinians who say the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the demographic status of the compound.

Further fueling Palestinian anger has been the incessant violations of the compound by Israeli settlers, backed by Israeli forces, and the settlers’ recurrent attacks against Palestinian residences.

In July last year, settlers carried out an arson attack against two Palestinian houses in the town of Duma, located 25 kilometers (15 miles) southeast of Nablus in the West Bank, killing Palestinian baby boy Ali Dawabsheh. His parents, who had been injured in the attack, also died later.

At least 171 Palestinians, including children and women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since last October amid the escalation.

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