Over the past three months, Israeli forces have increased nocturnal raids on Palestinian towns, breaking into civilian houses and kidnapping non-combatants.

The Israeli regime says the abducted individuals are on its 'Wanted List' while hypocritically repeating that the Palestinians must stop the non-violent resistance once and for all.

In the latest of a series of raids, the occupying forces attacked the village of Bil'in at 2:30 am on the morning of September 8, allegedly searching for 16-year-old Hamaza Bornat, a relative of the head of the Popular Committee Against the Illegal Separation Wall, Eyad Bornat. It is not clear if Hamaza was arrested or not.

Bil'in, a farming town of 1,700 people located in Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate and under Israeli occupation since 1967, has become a focal point for the non-violent resistance movement in Palestine, where residents have held protests every Friday for the last four years, joined by Israeli peace activists who cross the Apartheid Wall 'illegally' each Friday to lend support with their presence.

In response, and to halt the protests, Israeli troops attack the protesters with potentially-lethal anti-riot and experimental weapons, but the protests have continued without fail.

Although the village won a legal case in the Israeli High Court in 2006 ordering the Israeli army to re-route the internationally-condemned 'Annexation Wall' dividing the village, the re-routing has never happened, and the Palestinian villagers have no other legal means available than to hold non-violent protests, despite the recent provocations by Israeli forces.

In March, the Israeli troops fired a high-velocity tear gas canister directly at the head of US peace activist Tristan Anderson, critically injuring him. He remains in the hospital and is unlikely to ever fully recover from his injuries.

In the following month, the troops again aimed a high-velocity tear gas canister directly at the chest of non-violent activist Bassem Abu Rahme, this time killing their target.

Since August, the Israeli army has raided the village in the middle of the night several times a week, terrorizing the villagers and keeping them awake for hours while firing randomly and searching houses.

FTP/ZAP/HGL